Destined Fate
by Mysticerzengel
Summary: In the real world the shinigami are working hard to rescue Ichigo from the unknown dimension while he learns more about his inner world. Renji dreams and gets closer to Ichigo. Chapter 14 up . Mild spoilers to Manga chapter 283
1. Escape

**Title:** Destined Fate  
**Author:** mysticarchangel  
**Pairing:** slight hints of Ichigo/Renji  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** mild spoilers for Hueco Mundo Arc  
**Word Count:** 2344  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo  
**Summary:** „Yeah, if this isn't a trap, I'll be damned!" Ichigo muttered. Renji looked around and shrugged his shoulders. „Which way?..."  
**A/N:** Thanks to my Beta-reader xtrek. Hope you will stay my beta  
This story is set directly after the fight with Grimmjaw (in manga chapter 283) and takes off from that point in time. Everything after that is my imagination running freely and can be seen as an alternative timeline.

* * *

Chapter 1 – Escape 

The mask was gone. The fight was over. Orihime deactivated her shield and ran to Ichigo, who lay panting on the floor.  
„Are you alright, Kurosaki-kun?" While she was speaking, she started healing the injured boy.  
„I'm f-fine, Inoue. What about you?" he whispered with a low voice.  
„Don't worry. Not even a scratch, thanks to you"  
„We have to find the others. Save your strength for them. I'm ok." Tired and exhausted he tried to get on his feet and stumbled a few steps forward.  
„Are you really alright?"  
Ichigo took a deep breath and made the next few steps.  
„Yeah. Thanks a lot, Inoue. The worst of the wounds are gone. No need to worry. Come on, let's get going! The others are in danger. We've got to find them"  
Orihime only nodded and carefully followed him. They all needed to find a way back to the portal.  
They sneaked through empty floors. Well listening to every little sound and hoping not to be detected by an Arrancar.

Every step needed twice of the normal time. They had to be very quiet and careful and stop at every corner. First listening then a careful look around. Nothing.  
„That's strange. Where did they all go?"  
„Kurosaki-kun, over there!" Inoue pointed to the floor left of them.  
„Chad!"  
One last look and Ichigo darted forward.  
„Oi, Chad!"  
The Mexican raised his hand in response. But he stayed where he was lying flat on the floor.  
A quick glance to Orihime and they changed positions. Now Inoue knelt down next to Chad and Ichigo stood, looking around alertly. Still no sign of an enemy.  
Where were the other Arrancar?

_Silence. That's not normal. The fight was too loud. They had to notice us. So why is nobody here?_

Ichigo frowned deeper.  
„Kurosaki-kun..."  
The substitute shinigami turned his face to Inoue, who was still healing the Mexican. She didn't want him to fight again. You could clearly see it in her face.  
„No Arrancar around, Inoue. How is he?"  
„Can walk." Chad gave the answer himself. The girl didn't seem to agree but didn't reply as Chad got back on his feet.  
„We must hurry, don't we?"  
Ichigo nodded in response. The three of them headed for the next corridor. Still no sign of any Arrancar.

"Oi, strawberry! Over here." A well known voice shouted across the corridor. Ichigo had the sudden urge to kill Renji for this stupidity. Shouting across the corridor in the enemy's bastion was not the most clever thing to do.  
„Don't. Call. Me. Strawberry!" the so called person barked back. Nobody ever said that Ichigo had a better temper than a certain red head. Inoue and Chad sweatdropped.  
They turned to the right and looked at Renji, who was leaning against the wall, Rukia sitting besides him, her left leg covered in blood. Orihime lunged at Rukia, checking the raven haired girl's leg.  
„ So the Quincy boy is the only one who 's still missing?" Renji asked.  
„I don't think so." Ishida said from the corridor's other side.  
„What's happening here? No enemy around. That's suspicious."  
„Yeah, if this isn't a trap, I'll be damned!" Ichigo muttered.

Renji looked around and shrugged his shoulders. „Which way? We came from there and there was no portal," he pointed to the right corridor, „the strawberry and Inoue came from there." This time he pointed straightforward. Ichigo and Orihime shook their head in unison.  
„That leaves the left one."  
Everyone looked to the closed, huge door at the end of the named corridor.  
„Well, let's go!" Rukia needed a few moments to get up from the floor. She tested if her leg could carry her weight. It did; so she whispered a small „thank you" to Inoue and went ahead, followed by the others.  
Ichigo and Chad pried open the door and saw another long and silent corridor which looked exactly like the one they were leaving.  
A few steps later they arrived at the next intersection.  
„Which way now?" Ishida asked.  
„Always go left in a maze!" Orihime said with cheerful voice.  
Although they hoped not to be in a maze they chose the left way.

---Click---

Renji stopped in the middle of the intersection causing Ichigo to bump into him.  
„Ow, hey, why did you stop?"  
„Did you hear anything?"  
„Wha..." Ichigo couldn't continue his question.

The ground beneath them gave in with a loud crash. Both boys didn't have any time to react and fell down with the rubble.

Surprised by the crash the friends turned around. All they could see were clouds of dust.  
„Renji! Ichigo!" Rukia, Chad, Inoue and Ishida ran back to the intersection.  
A big hole was gaping where the floor formerly had been, but neither Renji nor Ichigo was to be seen.  
Inoue knelt down at the edge of the abyss, trying to see anything.  
„Kurosaki-kun! Please say something."

Renji's vision cleared slowly. He lifted himself up on his elbows.  
„Ow..."  
Startled by a voice from below he turned around. Ichigo lay half beneath him. He tried to rise as quickly as possible but slipped and landed back on the orange haired boy.  
„Oi, Renji, be careful!"  
„Sorry..."  
Renji got off the younger one and eyed him speculatively.

_Why he was below me, although I fell first?_

„Are you alright?" Ichigo's question interrupted his train of thought.  
„Che, I should ask you that! You played cushion."  
Ichigo blinked.  
„A few scratches and bruises but nothing serious."  
He scratched the back of his head and winced.  
Renji grasped his wrist and checked Ichigo's head.  
„Only a bulge. You're really a lucky bastard, you know?"  
„Thank you very much for the diagnosis, Dr. Abarai." The substitute shinigami dryly said, slapping Renji's hand away..  
They stepped away from all the rubble and looked up.  
„Seems that we have to find our own way out. I can't see the others."  
„Was this your awaited trap?"  
Ichigo shrugged. „Who knows?"  
The both of them stood uncertainly in the corridor next to the remains of the crashed floor, which blocked half of the corridor.  
Only one way was left.

„Let's get going, guys. We'll meet them at the gate." Rukia finally said and got to her feet.  
„But.." Orihime started, looking confused from Rukia to the hole in the ground and back to Rukia again.  
„I can sense their reiatsu, they will be alright! They will find a way out."  
Ishida and Chad nodded. The both of them down there were too stubborn to give up.

The aforementioned stubborn shinigami walked down a long corridor. From time to time they came across some doors in the corridor's walls.  
„Where the hell..." Ichigo began to speak, but was interrupted.  
Quickly they looked at each other with panic in their eyes. They could sense an Arrancar clearly.

_Where had the Arrancar been the whole time?_

Renji grasped the other's wrist and shoved him through the next door that they came across.  
Slamming the it closed they came to a panting stop.  
Ichigo examined the room with a quick glance around. It was a bedroom that was equipped only with a bed, a chair and a very small closet.  
They heard footsteps coming closer.  
„Quick!" Renji hissed and crawled under the bed dragging the other boy with him. The bedsheets covered their view nearly completely.  
„Hide your reiatsu!" The red haired shinigami commanded, only earning a questioning look from Ichigo. He had never had to hide his reiatsu before.  
„Damn, relax and accept my cover."  
„Huh?"  
„Imagine you are hiding under a blanket."  
Renji's reiatsu spread out and enclosed Ichigo's to push it down. Ichigo squirmed. This felt so strange. He could sense too much from the other shinigami. Too much for his liking. Although he knew it must be the same for Renji. He shifted uneasily, trying to hide his embarassment. How should he relax and accept the other's reiatsu? He took serveral deep breaths and tried to calm down, letting Renji have his freaky way with his reiatsu.

As if being surrounded in a spiritual way was not enough, Renji reached out and covered Ichigo's mouth with his hand.  
„Shh" he whispered in his ear holding the youth close to him. Ichigo's response was to blush deeply. Renji pushed him down with his free hand but then changed his plan and drew Ichigo closer to his chest to keep him from squirming around. By now Ichigo was crimson red. He couldn't decide if he was fainting from embarrassment or simply from the lack of air. Renji didn't only cover his mouth but his nose as well.  
The door opened and Renji could see a pair shoes. He tightened his grip on the boy, not sensing that he was barely reacting. Ichigo's reiatsu was still leaking out, but it was subdued.  
A few moments filled with fear and tension passed. Renji held his breath and waited.

The Arrancar walked through the door and Renji risked a glance at Ichigo. His eyes went wide with shock. His face began slowly to turn from deep red to violet. Finally sensing Ichigo's tries to call attention to his lack of air, he loosened his grip on the boy and let him breathe. After a few moments of silence, they couldn't sense the reiatsu anymore and left their hideout. Still breathing uneasily Ichigo eyed the red head.  
„I know I'm bad at hiding reiatsu, but there's no need to suffocate me."  
„Sorry, I didn't mean to. That was a close call! I couldn't hide yours completely what if..."  
„Don't think about it. Let's hurry. I want to be far away before the Arrancar returns."  
Ichigo was not keen on repeating this reiatsu thing and fled out of the room. Renji was directly behind him.

Both shinigami ran down the corridor and tried to observe their surroundings. They glanced over their shoulders when they thought they might have heard anything.  
They were racing down the hall when Renji suddenly stopped.  
„Oi, Ichigo, wait!" He continued after he was sure he had the boy's attention. He pointed at a way besides at something to his left.  
„Stairs!"  
Ichigo didn't waste time and followed his companion up the stairs, leaving the corridor's monotony.  
Reaching the stairway's top they were confronted with the same long and unspectacular corridors as before.  
„Someone should kill the architect."  
„Couldn't agree more. Which way this time?"  
They looked at each other, then at the three possible directions.  
„Er...This way." they said in unison but meaning different routes.  
„Baka, if we take this way, we would head back!" Ichigo shouted.  
„Yeah, we're going towards the others."  
„They've probably been waiting for us at the portal for quite some time already."  
„Don't think so. They're quite slow with their injuries."  
„And we wasted time playing hide-and-seek with the Arrancar. They..."

„Kurosaki-kun, Renji-san. You're fine!" They heard a cheerful voice. Turning to the direction where the call came from, they saw their friends heading to them from the third corridor in the middle.  
„It must be a miracle, that these two idiots didn't get caught." Ishida stated and adjusted his glasses.  
Reunited, the companions rushed along the corridors of Hueco Mundo searching the portal which should bring them back home.  
„Have you seen any Arrancar yet? It's suspicious that nobody tried to stop us."  
Rukia examined the area alertly. Still nothing.  
„There. The portal." Chad suddenly mentioned and disturbed Rukia's thoughts.

A few minutes later the six friends stood before the gate.  
Ichigo fell behind while Ishida and Orihime went through the portal first, disappearing in white bluish light. After them Rukia passed, followed by Chad.  
Ichigo tensed.  
_ Something is wrong. But what?_  
„Oi, strawberry, what's up? Don't say you miss the place."  
„I don't know..." He didn't even react to the hated nickname. Renji looked at his younger mate with concern.  
„Let's leave quickly."  
The red haired shinigami grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shoved him to the gate.

Hearing a drumming noise Ichigo stopped again. The ground vibrated.  
The weight on his shoulders disappeared. He turned quickly around.  
„RENJI! LOOK OUT!"  
Ichigo froze at the sight of another huge portal directly behind them. It was glowing in dark tones, mainly black and crimson. And it absorbed everything in its way.  
Renji tried to escape the maelstrom and took several steps forward but cause of the suction he went backwards instead of forward. Stepping out of Renji's slipstream Ichigo was gripped too. They got pulled forward several meters.  
„What the fu..."  
Without thinking Ichigo reached out and grabbed Renji's arm. He planted his feet into the ground and threw Renji into the opposite direction which caused him to loose his balance.  
For a few seconds they were both airborne. Ichigo gravitated to the black portal, Renji to the white-bluish one, which also had started to absorb everything. Their hands were entangled.  
„ICHIGO, don't..."  
He lost the grip of his strawberry's hand.

Renji could only see a lot of white and blue light. Then it was gone. He fell on green gras, helplessly watching the portal fade away  
„IIIICHIIIIIGOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
He could still feel Ichi's hand clutching his own. The shinigami was still on the floor as Rukia and Chad stepped behind him.  
„Hey, Renji. Where is Ichigo?"  
He couldn't answer and stared at his hand.  
„Renji-san? What has happened? Where is Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.

Black. Everything was black. Groaning he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Still black.  
_ Have I gone blind?_  
Ichigo blinked into the darkness. A few moments later he could catch sight of the floor. It was dark stone.  
_ Where the hell am I?_  
RROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR  
Ichigo's hand hurriedly reached for Zangetsu but only caught emptiness.  
„Zangetsu?"  
RROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR  
His eyes went wide with shock and fear.

-----------------End Chap. 1-------------------

mysticarchangel: HELP ME! Save me! Hide me! They are everywhere!  
xtrek: tries to keep the bunnies away These sneaky bastards won't give up. You have to feed them!  
mysticarchangel: Feed? Never feed wild animals!  
xtrek: Just write something and maybe they'll go away.  
Mysticarchangel: Maybe? I have written something but I can't shoo them away! They only become more!  
xtrek: Ok, I can't hold out any longergets swarmed Please continue with the next chapter!  
mysticarchangel: Whaaaaaaa drown...  
mysticarchangel: cough I'll write, I'll write, promised, please let go of me. shakes off plotbunnies So here's a preview: Ichigo is somewhere lost and Renji is in shock. See how they deal with it in the next chapter!


	2. Hide and Seek

------ Chapter 2 – Hide and Seek --------

„Renji! Renji! Answer me!"  
Rukia shook the vize-captain again and again, trying to get an answer. Renji simply sat there and stared into the sky where he had come  
from and where Ichigo should come from too.

But he never did. The gate had already closed and now vanished. Leaving Renji staring unbelievingly at the moving clouds, still not understanding what had actually happened.  
„Great! You stopped screaming Ichigo's name but what you're doing now isn't better at all."  
Rukia said frustrated and stepped back. Orihime knelt before the sitting redhead and waved her hand in front of his eyes.  
„He's totally spaced out. We won't get any reactions from him. What should we do now? What if Aizen got Kurosaki-kun and he is  
imprisoned right now? Or if Grimmjaw attacked Kurosaki-kun. Or if he is mortally wounded. Or something even worse. Or if he..."

Orihime sobbed. Chad patted on her shoulder.  
„He will live."  
„He's right, Inoue. Kurosaki wouldn't get himself killed that easily. We told you that before."  
Inoue calmed down but still continued to cry silently.  
„And what should we do now? Kurosaki-kun is lost and Renji-kun has completely spaced out."  
„Let's try if a little pain can wake him up!"  
Rukia rolled up her sleeves and hit her non-reacting comrade.  
No reaction.  
A little pinch. Still no reaction. She tried harder.  
„Weird. He didn't even wince."  
In this moment Renji's eyes crossed and he fainted.  
„That's one problem less to worry about. We should take him to Urahara's."

**RROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR**

Ichigo leant panting against a crippled, leafless tree. He was not sure how anything could grow here, but he was thankful for the support  
the tree's trunk provided. He had been running away for hours. Cold shivers ran down his spine as he remembered the monster that  
created this roar. It was huge and dark like everything here. Ichigo still heard the laughter from the third head of whatever it was. The  
second head's voice had been hollow and sharp as it had hissed at him.  
„Yooouuu smeelllllssss delicioussssss. Do you tasssste delicioussssss too?"  
Without his zanpakutou he had no choice but to run. He did not want to end as a snack for a three-headed monster from some other  
dimension.

_I need to find a hideout. With all these monsters around I can't go into my inner world._

He had to search for an hour or two but finally found a place. It was a dark cave. Well, darkness was something he slowly  
became used to. The whole area was pure darkness. Darkness and loneliness besides the monsters that appeared from time to time.

„ROOAAARRR, you can't essssscape, my little, delicioussss sssnack. Give up, I'll find you!"  
The enemy hissed and sniffed.  
Ichigo stopped breathing. Waiting.  
A few moments later it went away still sniffing. He let out his breath and crawled deeper into the cave.

To his relief his inner world was not dark and black. He looked around and examined the place.  
„Hey, old man! Come out! This isn't the best time to play hide and seek!"  
No reply.  
„Zangetsu! Come out! I can sense you!"  
_Well I can, but something is terribly wrong. Why doesn't he answer?_  
He wandered around and kept his eyes and senses open.  
„He won't answer, king! Are you too dumb to sense it?" His Hollow smirked.  
„You..."  
„The old man is sealed. You must rescue him!"  
Ichigo wished Hichigo would stop smirking. But his grin didn't fade.  
„And where is he, smart-ass? And don't tell me things that I already know!"  
„Maybe it's time you actually learned to control your reiatsu, my king…! Or we'll both be food for these creatures."  
That annoyed the hell out of him.  
„Says the master of control?" His voice was full of sarcasm. Finally, Hichigo's grin faded.  
„And how I am supposed to learn?"  
„Like almost everything you have learned. Do it or die!"

The sunset painted Urahara's shop in red and orange tones. Chad had thrown the fainted redhead over his shoulder and headed towards the entrance. Rukia followed close then came Ishida and Inoue.  
„Welcome back, everyone. Ah, as I can see the rescue mission was successful, welcome home Inoue-san!"  
The shop owner greeted them cheerfully as ever.  
„My, my. What's up with freeloader-san? Tessai, would you help Sado-san?"  
He blinked and eyed his guests.  
„Where is Kurosaki-san?" The three before him looked at each other. Their eyes were full of pain and Inoue cried silently.  
„We don't know what happened. Renji came through the gate alone and then it closed. Since then he has been in shock and wouldn't answer our questions."  
„And how did this happen?" Urahara asked pointing at the other shinigami.  
„Well, he fainted!"

_Do it or die... Can I not learn anything like anyone else?_

Ichigo looked at his hands in his lap. They could be clearly seen even in the darkness. His skin was a sharp contrast to the darkness, as  
was his stark white belt.  
_Looks like I need to cover myself and I have to learn how to hide my reiatsu. But how exactly should I do that? Hichigo did not  
give me any clues.._

His stomach growled.  
„Great, as if I haven't got enough problems. Where do I find something edible?"

rooooaaaaarrrr

Yeah I know, but I have no food..."

ROOOOOAAAAAARRRR  
That was not his stomach.  
Ichigo jumped up and could barely avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.  
Bright yellow eyes looked at him from the depth oft he cave.

Renji woke up heavily panting and covered in cold sweat.  
„Ah, freeloader-san! Finally awake?"  
Renji turned his head to the left and saw Urahara hiding his face behind his fan. Renji blinked.  
„What happened?"  
„Well, after your return from Hueco Mondo, you fainted. And I want to ask you the same question! What happened and where is  
Kurosaki-san?"  
Renji gulped.  
„Er... another gate appeared and started absorbing everything..."  
He could hardly prevent the shiver as the memories came back. Renji looked down.  
„Ichigo threw me through the gate to the real world and lost balance..."  
„Renji, you don't mean that Ichigo..."  
Rukia broke off her sentence with a glance to Inoue who sat sadly back on a cushion at the table.  
„Kurosaki-kun could be everywhere...what if..." she muttered.  
„My, my. We have to find out where Kurosaki-san is now. Then we can help him. But how do we report it to Isshin-san?"  
„What do you want to tell me?"

They turned around. Kurosaki Isshin and his twins walked through the door.  
„Welcome to my shop, how can I help you?" Urahara tried to distract from the topic at hand.  
„Have you seen Ichi-nii?" Without success.  
They regarded each other helplessly before they faced the rest of the Kurosaki family.  
„Well...it seems..."  
Rukia began but stopped by the sad expression on Yuzu's face. The girl had tears in her eyes.  
„Ichigo is...er... kinda... lost?"  
The atmosphere cooled down. Yuzu was stunned.  
„If this was a joke, it wasn't a good one. Where is MY SON!"  
Renji got to his feet and bowed, pleading for forgiveness.  
„Ichigo saved me and got caught by another portal!"  
Silence.

„YOU LEFT MY SON BEHIND?????"  
„Oh dear, here comes the overprotective father.." Urahara whispered.  
Isshin grabbed Renji by the scruff of the neck and shook him violently.  
„You dare to leave him and do nothing?"  
Renji had no chance to answer, while the shinigami father was shaking him.  
„Shouldn't we stop him?" Inoue asked quietly.  
They looked at each other but no one wanted to take on the angry Kurosaki family-head. Yuzu looked pleadingly at Urahara who held  
up a hand and shook his head. Taking the initiative, Yuzu tried to stop her father from shaking Renji. She grabbed his arm and latched  
onto him.  
"Dad, this won't bring Ichi-nii back."

At the same moment somewhere else the said and lost person had another problem. The bright yellow eyes were still focused on him  
without so much as a blink. Whatever this creature was, it came closer. Ichigo carefully crawled backwards.  
The eyes disappeared. The orange haired boy paused his movements for a moment. Was this a good or a bad sign? He didn't want to  
wait for the result and headed to the exit. Suddenly he felt sharp claws in his neck. He stumbled and greeted the floor. In the next instant  
he grasped a fistful fur and dragged it away from his neck.

„meow?"  
Ichigo stared at a black ball of fur. It looked like a mixture of cat and bunny and could fit in his open hand. It stared back at him.  
Surprised he let go of the chimera. It landed on its paws and jumped into Ichigo's lap. It purred.  
„What the hell?"  
He stretched his hand out to the ball of fur. It sniffed at it and a few seconds later the feline licked his fingers.  
„Ok, not everything in this world might be an enemy."  
It purred again, rolled up and slept. Ichigo took a closer look. It had a tail like a cat but ears of a rabbit and it seemed that there were  
little wings as well. Like a bat.  
„Strange creature." Ichigo yawned. „But a nap is a good idea."  
He leant back and closed his eyes. In a few moments he followed the ball of fur into the world of dreams.

He didn't know how long he had slept but the chimera on his stomach hissed and woke him up.  
„Oi, fluffy, what's up?"  
A loud growl from the front of his hideout was his answer.  
„Damn!"  
Ichigo dodged a claw that fumbled for him.  
„Fluffy, if there is another exit tell me now."  
But the little thing seemed as frightened as Ichigo. It spread its wings and flew to Ichigo's shoulder.  
Ichigo stumbled deeper into the cave. Small pebbles rained down from the ceiling.  
„_Do it or die."_  
Hichigo's words echoed in is mind.

„_Hey, king. Do something or we'll get killed!"_  
Speak of the devil and it appears.  
_Very funny Hichi. Any useful advice?_  
„_You should finally start to _see_ your reiatsu, king. If you can see where your reiatsu ends and the another's begins you can try  
the next step!"_  
Ichigo blinked surprised. His Hollow really wanted to help?  
He perched in the last remaining corner of the cave and where he was just out of range of the fumbling claw. Hichigo's reiatsu swirled  
around him and helped him to clear his view.  
Suddenly everything became clear to him. He was bad in sensing reiatsu because he blocked himself.  
„_You can see it, don't you? Now try the next step. Pull yourself together. Prevent your reiatsu from spreading out."_

Ichigo did as he was told. He took several deep breaths and concentrated on his reiatsu which was visible to him now. Using Renji's  
image of a blanket he tried to visualize using his reiatsu as a large blanket to cover his presence.  
The ball of fur squeaked nervously and snuggled against his throat.  
Unconsciously he stroked the chimera and waited.  
A disappointed growl broke through the night. The claw ceased its actions.  
„_Congratulations, my king. Now you can hide it. We will see what your next step will be."_  
The shinigami could not sense his hollow anymore.  
Outside of the cave it dawned.

------- End Chapter 2 ------


	3. Sweet Dreams

--- Chapter 3 – Sweet Dreams -------- 

The sunrise began to color Karakura in light red and orange tones. The town lay peacefully in the morning hours. Wafts of mist were mixed with the early sunrays and hovered in the streets.  
Urahara's shop was quiet and peaceful, too. At the moment nothing reminded of yesterday's events.  
But in one room was still light. Urahara and the head of the Kurosaki family could not end their discussion.  
„Did you understand, Kon? You are going to school as Ichigo as long as he is lost. No funny business with his body! No affairs! You will frown like him, speak like him and move like him. You will act like Ichigo or you end up in one of Yuzu's tea parties forever."  
Kon gulped and lowered his head.  
"Yes, sir."

In the next room the Kurosaki twins slept on futons. Yuzu still had little tears in the corners of her eyes and clung to Karin's arm who lay next to her.  
Rukia and Inoue had gone to Inoue's apartment to check out its state. They planned to be back after a few hours of sleep. Ishida and Sado had returned to their places, too.  
In the last guest room Renji lay in an uneasy sleep.

_He looked at the area. Everything was gray and black. Fog__ covered the ground completely. Where am I? _

Renji shifted to the other side in his sleep and pulled the blanket over his ears.  
„So cold..." he whispered.  
_It dawned. Black became gray. gray became a little bit brighter. But he had the feeling of walking through an old black-and-white film. He passed __ a crippled, leafless tree and several bushes. They seemed to be more decoration than living plants. Footprints could be seen in the dust._  
„Where..." Renji muttered. Still sleeping while the sun began to lighten his room.

In the unknown dimension it dawned, too. Ichigo stepped out of his hideout and examined the surroundings.  
„Oh dear... this looked friendlier in the night..."  
He checked his reiatsu. It was still hidden. So he chose to take off in a random direction. He was completely clueless where he should start searching for food.  
Lost in his thoughts he followed a dusty path. The environment was dead. He could not find other words for this. The few plants were gray and leafless. No sign of any creatures.  
Ichigo stopped, blinking. Did he hear anything?  
„Meow!"  
The boy turned around. Nothing could be seen.  
_Well...that's strange...was this some kind of hallucination?_

„Meow!"  
A moment later he felt tiny claws on his head. He plugged a well known, fistful of fur from his hair.  
„Oi, fluffy! Don't you have a home to return to?"  
It chirped happily and nuzzled against his hand, spread its wings and flew onto his shoulder licking Ichigo's left cheek.  
„Hey, fluffy stop that! It tickles!"  
Ichigo closed his left eye while the tiny chimera was nudging and licking his face. Giggling he took the ball of fur at its neck. At least Ichigo guessed it was its neck, short behind its bunny ears.  
„Well...if you want to follow, that's okay with me, but stop licking my face."  
„Meow!"  
_Was this a nod? I think I'm slowly going insane. Now I'm talking to chimeras and pretend to get an answer.__It has to be the hunger. I will be dizzy soon if I can't get any food._  
He let go of fluffy and continued forward, the little chimera right behind him.

„_Dodge!"_  
Ichigo jumped to the right just in time. There where he had stood a moment ago was now a huge creature like a big wolf mixed with a bear. The beast straightened up and made an angry sound.  
„Where did this come from?"  
„_Pay more attention to your surroundings, king."_  
He could not answer instead he had to dodge again.  
„Damn... if this continues I will never find anything to eat...fuck a moment of peace would be enough!"  
The chimera attacked. Ichigo wanted to jump but the creature was quicker than him. With a loud tearing sound it left long scratches in his hakama and on his right leg. Small pearls of blood dripped down the leg.  
He had not even landed when the creature attacked again. It rammed the boy so that he banged into a rock. He coughed. Raising his head his eyes widened. He saw a huge paw crashing down on him.

Renji jerked up.  
His whole body was shivering. Breathing heavily he tried to calm down.  
„What a dream..."  
The dream was too realistic for his liking. When he closed his eyes he could still see the scene clearly.  
_Ichigo without Zangetsu. The monster. The paw crashing down. But it was only a dream. Only a dream... but it felt so real._  
He buried his face in his hands and massaged his temples. He removed his hands and stared at them.  
_I can still feel his hand on my arm and hand. Why did he save me?_  
He recalled yesterday's night. After Isshin had stopped shaking him, they had planned what to do next. They needed as much information as possible on Ichigo's disappearance and had contacted Soul Society. Ukitake-taichou would lead the research in the library.  
They had to find out where Ichigo could be. He might still be in Hueco Mondo or in a different dimension. They needed to find a way to help him find his way back home. It was not easy for everyone involved. Sitting around and doing nothing grated on their nerves. They could research but there was not much they could do for him at the moment.  
_And it's all my fault. If I were stronger I could have rescued him. But he simply slipped my grip._  
„_With pacing around you can't help him. So get up your lazy ass."_  
He didn't like to admit it, but Zabimaru was right. He took a shower and went downstairs. As expected Urahara and the Kurosakis were awake and waiting for breakfast. Kon was there, too.

In Ichigo's body. For a moment he had thought Ichigo had returned but that have been a small miracle.  
„Oi, Kon. Did you finally learn to frown like Ichigo?" He tried to hide his surprise with a lazy comment.  
„I must train or I will end up locked in a drawer forever." Kon whined. It was a strange feeling hearing him whining with Ichigo's voice. Ichigo did not whine.  
„Kon!" Isshin said in a warning tone.  
Kon gulped and stopped whining.  
„How long do we have to bear with him?" Karin asked. She was obviously not happy about the circumstances. She wanted her brother back and not a replacement also known as mod soul.  
Kon winced but concentrated on his breakfast.  
„What if Ichi-nii doesn't return?" Yuzu needed all of her courage to ask. She couldn't look up from her plate.  
„He will return!" Her father reassured her. Renji thought he had seen his eyes had lose a bit of their light. But of course he had to be strong for his daughters.  
„And now quick, my beloved daughters. You don't want to come too late, do you? Your friends are waiting!" He cheered.  
„But Dad! We can't...!"  
„No, no! Your father is right. We can't do anything right now. I don't think Kurosaki-san would like you to sit around waiting and worrying."  
Urahara interfered with his face hidden behind his fan. Unwillingly the both girls ended their breakfast and headed out of the shop.

Renji waited until they were out of earshot.  
„What will really happen with Ichigo?"  
The faces of the older men darkened.  
„Well, difficult to say. It isn't normal for a human to become a shinigami. A gigai wouldn't be affected by the absence, but a body could be."  
Isshin began but avoided the details on the actual consequences. It was too painful to think of what could happen to the body or soul of his only son.  
„The only thing we definitively know is that his body will die when his soul dies."  
„Why are you so sure? Ichigo is a shinigami although he is still human. His soul has often left his body, why..."  
Isshin interrupted Renji's enraged questions.  
„Because body and soul are connected. That's because he can get human illnesses even in shinigami form or why his wounds transfer to his body when he returns. You never need to think about those problems. A gigai can't get sick and a shinigami has different kinds of illnesses. The longer he will stay out of his body the worse his body's state will become and so on."  
„Is that the reason for making me tell you any weight loss and other changes?" Kon asked sheepishly.  
Isshin nodded. Renji looked down on his breakfast not feeling hungry anymore. He pecked at his food and shoved the dish from one side to the other.  
„I'll go to train a bit. See ya later."  
The redhead said and left, leaving his breakfast untouched.  
„My, my. He's really depressed. I guess he'll be in trouble very soon if he can't pull himself together."

Ichigo waited for the paw to rip him apart. Suddenly the chimera stopped and sounded very annoyed. Ichigo's little friend hovered in front of the monster's eyes. It tried to scratch and distract the beast from his former prey.  
One slap and the ball of fur crashed to the ground.  
„Fluffy!" Ichigo shouted. An instant later he attacked. He might have no Zangetsu to help but he could still fight without a weapon. He throw a kick directly against the throat of the distracted creature.  
It yowled in pain shifting its attention back to the substitute shinigami. With an angry growl it jumped forward. Seeing a chance Ichigo ran toward the chimera. A punch, a kick and he sent it to the ground.

„_Hey king, did you finally remember how to fight with your bare hands?"_ His hollow mocked.  
Ichigo decided to ignore Hichigo and searched for his little comrade instead.

„Hey, fluffy. Are you ok?"  
He lifted the unmoving ball of fur and nudged it carefully. The tiny thing meowed piteously but nodded so that his long ears dangled.  
„Thanks, little one. Come on, you can sit on my shoulder while we look for something to eat."  
He put it on his shoulder and started his search for food.  
„_And you should check the cover of your reiatsu. It get weaker. You need rest as well."_  
„What? Hichigo you seem to be worried about me." Ichigo was mildly surprised.  
„_Pfff in your dreams. Taking over a weak body is pointless. You haven't eaten since before you arrived at Hueco Mundo and you had only two hours sleep. Not to mention the fights and escapes. Taking you over right now would make me weaker. But meanwhile I don't want to be eaten by any strange chimeras. So don't get any wrong ideas."_  
„Yeah, sure!So, if you don't want to be eaten, tell me how I can hide my reiatsu in a better way?"  
He could hear his hollow chunter.  
„_Why should I? You can think of it yourself!"_  
His voice felt silent.

_Hichigo is as helpful as ever. No, unfortunately he has helped me a lot since our arrival in this place. But why? What does he mean with „You can think of it"?What did he say last time? Prevent your reiatsu from spreading out?_

He took several deep breaths and concentrated on his reiatsu. He pulled his reiatsu up locking it inside his body. His senses became sharper. He could sense little creatures a short distance away.  
The ball of fur was freaked out and nuzzled his hair.  
„_Hey, you idiot of a king! I said hiding not suppressing! Do you always have to exaggerate? There are two more phases between simple cover and this!"_

Ichigo minimized his efforts. Keeping his reiatsu out but still near him, he felt really tired now. His senses were still sharpened. The tiny black ball relaxed.  
He sighed.

„_4 states of hiding, king. Covering, pulling up, invisibility and suppressing. Got it? If someone suppresses his reiatsu you could think he might be dead and it's bad for your health. So don't do it again if it isn't necessary."  
You __really are worried._  
Ichigo was surprised.  
„_Che, I don't like to say it but you are stuck with me and I with you. If you die, I'll die as well. And if I die, you'll die, too. That goes for every Vaizard or Arrancar or who ever had a hollow like you have. I can overpower you and take control but you have to live. So don't believe I were worried. I still think only what's best for me."_

His voice went silent again.  
Ichigo smirked and looked at his shoulder.  
„So after all of this, I think we should search for something edible. And...well fluffy...I think you need a proper name, don't you?"  
The occupant of his shoulder squeaked in agreement.  
„Well... what do you think of... Cabu? You kinda look like a cat mixed with a bunny."  
The ball of fur bounced happily up and down nearly falling off his shoulder.  
„I take it as a _Yes._"

Hours later they still hadn't been successful. The area was gray and dusty. Ichigo was hungry, thirsty and very tired. He could feel how his reiatsu fluctuated. Cabu had changed position and flew ahead. Searching for water and food it described large circles around the orange haired boy.  
„Ah... berries!" He shouted and walked over to a group of bushes. Tiny, gray fruits hung there. Ichigo grasped a fistful and shoved them into his mouth. At least he tried to do so. Cabu bit him with tiny but very sharp teeth.  
„What the fuck!"  
He dropped the berries and eyed Cabu enraged.  
„There are enough for both of us, no need to bite me!"  
But Cabu hovered at face level, put its ears in front of his mouth making chewing movements. Then it suddenly clenched up and fell out of the sky. Playing dead it stayed on the floor.  
„Do you want me to tell that these berries are toxic?"  
Life returned in the ball of fur and it nodded violently. He sighed and patted Cabu on its head.  
„You flew around, didn't you? Have you seen a hideout? I need a little rest."  
It chirped and bit into his sleeve, dragging him to the right.  
„Ok, ok I understand. I will follow you."  
Cabu let go and flew ahead. It lead him to an abandoned hut. The wood was rotten and it smelled awful. Ichigo entered and found it to be completely empty. No table, no bed and no chair. There was no sign of the hut's inhabitants.  
„Well, better than nothing, thanks Cabu!"  
He lay down on the bare floor and stared at the ceiling. Cabu chirped sorrowfully before it flew away unnoticed by its new-found friend.

_Are the others okay? Did Renji make it? Where am I? And where could Zangetsu be?  
Well I need to find food and water, that's first. Then I must find Zangetsu and rescue him from being sealed. And of course I have to find a way out of here. That sounds simple but there's still so much that can go wrong..._

A chirp jolted him out of his thoughts followed by something that fell on his chest.  
„What...?"  
He blinked. On his chest lay a gray fruit that looked like a melon.  
„Cabu? How?"  
Confused he looked up to his little companion and the melon. The fruit was twice as big as Cabu. But Cabu didn't answer and took a little bite. Seeing that Ichigo bit into the fruit, too. It was sour and juicy but edible. He ate it in a few minutes. He swallowed the last bite as Cabu nudged him.

The boy crawled it. Cabu enjoyed it for a minute or two, then it pointed one of its ears to Ichigo and made a snoring sound while putting its ears under its head.  
„Nah, it's too dangerous here to sleep properly."  
Cabu fluffed up and meowed confidently.  
„You don't want to tell me that you will guard my sleep, do you?"  
It nodded and cuddled with him. Ichigo relaxed a bit and shifted, trying to find a comfortable position.  
„But not too long. Wake me in a few hours, Cabu." He yawned, somehow it didn't feel weird anymore to talk to the little chimera.

Annoying noises came from the training grounds and made the guests of the Urahara shoten look up every time.  
„Is Renji still training?" Rukia asked.  
„Yes, it must be his fourth hour since he started after lunch."  
Isshin looked at the clock.  
„When can we get the first results of the library research?"  
„Ukitake-taichou and Kyōraku-taichou are still searching. According to Nanao-fukutaichou they are nearly buried in books."  
Another loud bang shook the room.  
„My, my. Someone should tell him that it wasn't his fault."  
„You mean he tries to wear himself out because he feels guilty?"

„_Renji, enough is enough. Stop this finally!"_  
But the shinigami ignored the hissing voice of Zabimaru. He was exhausted but not exhausted enough in his opinion.  
_I hate to do nothing, Zabimaru._  
He could not hear Zabimaru's reply. His next attack went out of control. A rock exploded right in front of him. No chance to dodge.  
„Fuc..."  
His world went black as he was hit by stone fragments.

„RENJI!"  
Panting Ichigo jolted up from his sleep.  
_Damn, what was that? Weird dream._  
He heard a worried meow. Cabu was at his side in the next second.  
„Meow?"  
„Only a dream Cabu, don't worry."  
He calmed down.  
Why had he dreamt of Renji? Not only Renji but Renji getting hurt in a simple training session.  
Ichigo refused to think about and turned to his side, attempting to get more sleep.

------ End Chapter 3 --------

Sorry, it took a while but the next chapter is in progress and thanks for the reviews


	4. Visitors

------ Chapter 4 – Visitors --------

_He felt a hand running through his hair. Another one followed the traces of his tattoos. He kissed soft lips. Begging for more he bit gently. He heard a small gasp.  
The lips parted and he explored the sweet tasting cavern. His own hands caressed soft skin sending shivers over the other's spine. He let go of the now lightly swollen lips and nibbled at his lover's ear. A moan followed and his love tilted his head. He bit down gently in the exposed neck, marking the skin.  
His lips found the other's again. Their tongues fought passionately. He granted his lover's tongue access to his mouth.  
They broke apart with a moan. A hand found its way down to his butt, stroking. He placed a trail of kisses on his love's jawline caressing his back and neck._  
„_Renji..." The soft voice moaned his name.  
He looked up, staring into deep brown eyes._

He moaned but not of pleasure. Renji opened his eyes slowly. The sun was almost gone.  
„_Finally awake? Took you long enough. I never thought that being hit by your own attack could send someone to such hot dreams!"_  
Renji could nearly see Zabimaru's suppressed grin.  
„_I suggest you take a cold shower. A very cold one."  
Che, if you saw the dream... : who was I with? I can't remember clearly._  
Renji continued to wonder about the strangely realistic dream.  
„_Oh, didn't you see? Well, you were a little... distracted." Zabimaru mocked.  
Shut up and tell me, if you are that clever._  
„_No, it's more interesting this way."  
Wait, what the fuck were you doing in MY dream?_  
„_You dragged me into it. It's not my fault that I saw everything."_  
„Bastard!"  
„Who are you talking to??"  
Renji turned around and was greeted by Isshin.  
„Zabimaru annoyed me."  
„And he is right. You can't help anyone if you knock yourself out."  
Isshin pointed to Renji's head. Renji reached to his forehead. He felt a nasty cut. Blood dripped down.  
„You should take a soak in the healing spring, afterwards come to the living room."  
„Any news?"  
Renji's voice was filled with hope.

„This grey pisses me off. It's pointless to which side I look. Everything is grey. And what isn't grey, is black then."  
Ichigo wandered about the paths.  
„_Don't know what you have against this colour. " Hichigo said sarcastically._  
„_Stop complaining and search the old man instead."_  
Cabu flew ahead and chirped irritatedly.  
_Very funny, Hichigo. And how should I do that? Everyone knows that I'm bad at sensing reiatsu._  
„_Says the one who could locate a weak soul overlayed by a living soul a while ago."_  
„What are you talking about?"  
Ichigo was paralysed.  
„_You heard me! You are really a fool. Even when your own power wasn't awake yet you could sense the boy's soul within the little bird, couldn't you? And now _you_ want to tell me you can't sense any reiatsu that is stronger than a normal soul? You're really pathetic, king. How could you ever beat me?"_  
His hollow's words were like a punch in his stomach. How could he forget? But there was something else...  
_Why do you know?_  
He asked suspiciously.  
„_I'm stuck in your damn head. It's boring here if you aren't in a fight. So I watched your memories a little bit."  
You did WHAT? Hichigo, you might live in my inner world but you're not allowed to invade my privacy._  
„_It's your own fault. It's easy to view your memories cause you won't control your reiatsu properly."_  
So his lack of control was the reason, again. But he could change that now.  
„_Hey, let me have my entertainment. Che, you're boring, king."_  
Ichigo grinned.  
„Meow! Meow!"  
Cabu sounded excited.  
„Hey, Cabu. What's up?"

--Splash---

Before he could react, he was hit directly in his face with something wet and slimy.  
„Urgh, Cabu, what's this?"  
He rubbed his face and looked down at his now black hands. They were covered in a black mess.  
„Meow!"  
Ichigo could have sworn that his little friend grinned. It hovered in front of his face, carrying a strange black plant. Ichigo blinked and stared down at his hands again.  
„I don't think, I want to know what this might be, do I?"  
Cabu chirped and placed the plant in Ichigo's hands. It rubbed its ears. Ichigo frowned, but closed his hands around the plant and imitated Cabu's motions.  
The plant secreted a slimy substance. When Ichigo opened his hands again, Cabu immediately landed on them and bathed in the strange substance. Then it hopped over Ichigo's arms up to his face, leaving a pitch black trace.  
„Ok, ok. This might be disgusting but it can hide my pale skin. That should make it more difficult for those creatures to find me."  
Cabu seemed to be pleased and flew to a branch and waited while Ichigo spread the substance over his head and arms. When he couldn't see anything of his skin anymore, he looked up to Cabu.  
„Pleased?"  
Now he easily blended in with the bleak environment. Cabu meowed and landed on his shoulder.  
„Fine, let's find the old man."

In the living world Renji entered Urahara's shop. He could hear clearly the voices coming from the living room. He went into the room and saw Isshin and Urahara sitting on cushions at the table next to Rukia, Chad and Orihime. Tessai stood in the door frame which led to the kitchen. All of them were focused on a huge screen that showed a certain white haired captain.  
„Finally, everyone has gathered. Took you long enough, Abarai-fukutaichou. How is the status in town? Any news?"  
„Hitsugaya-taichou..."  
„No changes here. There is no sign of Ichigo."  
„Neither is here. The library research hasn't brought any results up to now. Ukitake-taichou and Kyouraku-taichou will continue the research in another part of the library. The description of the gate doesn't fit with any of the known dimension's gates but they won't give up."  
„Thanks for the report. Is there anything else, Hitsugaya-taichou?"  
Isshin asked when the short taichou hesitated.  
„Be careful, the Arrancar seem to look for something in Karakura. They have been seen many times in the last few days. Don't get into any traps. We'll sent you support as soon as possible."  
The screen went black.  
„Arrancar in Karakura? What are they looking for?"  
„Che, as if there aren't enough problems right now."  
„Hollows, a freeloader-san who can't pull himself together and now Arrancar. My, my there's a lot to do!"  
Renji opened his mouth and closed it again without saying anything. He wanted to reply but Urahara was right."  
„I'll go on patrol."  
He simply said and left.  
„What a fool! He trained the whole day and now patrol? I'll go with him. He can't care for himself at the moment and how does he plan to fight a simple hollow not to mention an Arrancar? I'll bet some sense into him!"  
Rukia promptly left her gigai behind and followed the other shinigami.

Ichigo and Cabu followed the weak trace that the boy had found. Finding Zangetsu was difficult. Ichigo's zanpakutou was sealed and the distance long. But he felt better now, because he did not wander around without any idea of a direction or a goal.  
The weather changed. It got colder and it had started to rain from a mass of dark grey clouds. Ichigo's shinigami uniform could not keep him warm anymore. Within several minutes he was soaked to his skin. He heard an unhappy meow from his shoulder followed by a tiny growl.  
„You're hungry, too. Sorry, little one, seems like a day with only water for us. Luckily we've found that stream an hour ago. Not that I hold it against you, but your home isn't very hospitable for strangers like me. I have to hurry back home before I'm gone for good."  
The rain mixed with the black substance on his skin, revealing traces of white skin.  
„Great...now I'm looking like a reversedly-striped zebra. Or even worse...grey like the rest of here."  
He chose the next grey tree and sat down, leaning against the tree trunk.  
_I hope the others are alright..._  
His thoughts drifted off. His eyes went blank...

_Ichigo opened his eyes and saw a jungle. Huge trees, proud and strong on bright green gras. Rain fell through the ceiling of treetops.  
'It's warm here. Even the rain isn't that cold.'  
He touched a trunk on his right side. He could almost feel the life under the bark. The world shone in living colors, welcoming him. The wind blew gently over his skin, giving the boy a feeling of comfort and being protected.  
It seemed to be the complete opposite of the grey dimension.  
Ichigo walked around, admiring every tree and flower. He compared the scenery with the rainforest in his schoolbooks. Distracted by the new world full of life he missed the movement behind him.  
A shadow followed each of his steps.  
After a few minutes he reached a lake. It was peaceful like the whole world. Raindrops created little circles in the water.  
He sat down under a tree next to the lake, staring into the deep blue water.  
His vision changed. Instead of pure, deep blue water he began to see different things. Rukia barking at Renji, about how he dared to go out on his own in times like these._  
„_Ichigo is still missing and you are searching for trouble. What's wrong with you?"_  
„_I can't sit still and do nothing!"  
---Slap--  
Rukia hit the redhead. Both of them were not in their gigais._  
„_First you knock yourself out in training and now you go on patrol. You're not in the shape to fight against a hollow."_

Renji lowered his head. Rukia had followed him and tried to convince him to make a break.  
„Ichigo can't fight hollows right now, so somebody else has to do it."  
„But not you! Our back up will arrive soon, then we can plan the patrols. Nobody should go out alone when Arrancar are roaming the living world."  
Renji sighed, rubbing his aching head.  
„Ok, no patrol. May I go for a walk in the park? Alone?"  
Rukia narrowed her eyes and glared at him.  
„I want to think about some things..."  
„Promise me that you will call for help when a hollow or something else appears. And you don't throw yourself into a fight if it isn't necessary.!"  
Renji gulped and nodded very slowly. Rukia seemed to be pleased.  
„Don't walk to the park. Stay close to the shop! If you really want to be alone, go to Urahara's training area."  
Rukia added and left him to give him some space. Alone with his thoughts he headed into the opposite direction.

The next thing Renji noticed was a dull pain in his stomach, then he crashed against a wall.  
„What the fuck..."  
„Oi, a shinigami alone and totally distracted. I need answers right now and you'll be the person to give them."  
Renji looked up and stared at a smirking face.  
„Grimmjaw..."  
„No time for niceties. Tell me, where is the is the carrot top. Answer quickly and I'll grant you a quick and painless death."  
Renji's thoughts raced.  
„You don't know? Isn't he in Hueco Mundo?"  
He could feel the other's reiatsu expand.

_Ichigo clenched his teeth. His eyes glued to the images in the lake._  
„_Renji, why don't you fight?" He muttered.  
He could see how Grimmjaw drew back for another blow, gathering his reiatsu to deliver a deadly blast of cero.  
Ichigo's panic grew._  
„_RENJI, DODGE!!!!!  
He screamed with all the force his voice allowed.  
His vision blurred. The jungle was exchanged with deep darkness. Warmth with cold._

Panting heavily, Renji sat on the floor inches away from a big black hole. Grimmjaw was stunned. The blast should have ended the fight.  
_Ichigo? That was his voice. But..._  
„So...do you want to fight already? If I can't fight against Kurosaki, then I might as well kill his friend."  
Grimmjaw grinned. Renji couldn't recall what just had happened. But he was still alive. He reached for Zabimaru.  
„HOWL ZABIMARU!"  
He jumped. Grimmjaw's attack split the floor.  
„Why doesn't he come to rescue you? Aren't you friends?"  
Grimmjaw teased. Renji clenched his teeth in anger. He attacked. Zabimaru missed the blue haired man by inches.  
„Oi, why are you angry? Unsure about your friendship?" Grimmjaw continued teasing.  
Weapons crossed. The grin on his face never faded. He jumped forward, pinning the redhead shinigami on the ground.  
„Or do you wish there was more than friendship?" He whispered in Renji's ear.  
Renji's eyes narrowed. His temper flared.  
"Bastard! That's not your business!"  
Renji's reaction gave him away. Grimmjaw had just unknowingly voiced one of his secret desires.  
Grimmjaw's grin grew wider. It didn't even fade as Renji slammed his knee into his stomach, crashing him into the next wall.  
„What do you want from me?"  
Renji panted. He brushed away a strand of his crimson hair. It was soaked in is own blood, leaving red traces over his face.  
„I'll only get what Aizen wants. And now answer. Where is he?"  
„Hell if I know!"  
„Then there's no use for you!"  
The Arrancar retreated to ready himself for a powerful attack. His weapon crashed down.

Renji opened his eyes slowly when the hit did not rip him apart. He had not noticed he had closed them.  
It reminded him of when Ichigo had rescued him and Rukia from Aizen's attack.  
But it wasn't Aizen who had attacked and there was no sign of Ichigo. Instead of bright, orange hair and a blowing coat he saw white hair and a white haori.  
„I thought I told you to be careful."  
Renji stared at Hitsugaya's zanpakutou. It was crossed with Grimmjaw's. Grimmjaw jumped back.  
„Grimmjaw, quit playing and return. We're on a mission!"  
Grimmjaw looked up and glared at Ulquiorra.  
„Spoilsport!You're ruining all the fun!"  
Ulquiorra was completely unfazed, simply ignored Grimmjaw and opened the portal. Both Arrancar disappeared.

Hitsugaya stared at the fukotaichou who got on his feet slowly  
„So?"  
„I'm sorry? But I now know what they are looking for."  
„And that is an excuse for getting into a fight?"  
Renji ignored the teasing comment.  
„They are searching Ichigo. That means, he isn't in Hueco Mundo anymore."  
„That leaves two questions. What do they want and where could Kurosaki be?"  
The shinigami looked up to the stars.  
_First I see Ichigo in my dreams and now I hear his voice... I' must be going nuts._  
„_It really was his voice."  
WHAT? How? Where? Why?..._  
„_Find the answers or find him. Or... maybe you'll find the answers if you find him."_

Ichigo woke up from Cabu's shrill queaks. He thought his head might burst.  
_Shit... what was that? A dream? But why am I so tired?_  
„_You activated your reiatsu in your sleep... Careful!"_  
Ichigo was overwhelmed by coldness. Not only from the weather. A strange feeling seemed to creep up his spine. Not from skin to bone. It started in himself. It felt like something powerful was drawing close.  
„Hichi, don't play with me!"  
Ichigo tried to brush the feeling away. The coldness stayed. Cabu crawled under his kimono, shivering. He was soaking wet from rain and the growing slowly manifesting power somewhere in the distance didn't calm him.  
„_That's not me!"_

Ichigo cursed under his breath. He turned around and ran. He was no coward, but without any weapon and a reason to fight, running was the wisest choice. Whatever it was, it was too powerful and coming closer by the minute.  
Suddenly a black figure appeared in front of him, pointing one arm to him. It looked human but it could be described as a living black coat. You could see neither a part of skin nor a limb. The coat reached to the floor. If it had hands they were covered. It radiated a fearful power. Ichigo moved backwards.  
The power grew. Ichigo shivered. He turned tail and ran, using shunpo.  
_What the fuck..._  
There it was again. He glimpsed over his shoulder. The living coat had easily caught up to him. It was far quicker than him. Outrunning it was not an option anymore.

„Damn!"  
The boy jumped to the left, barely avoiding being hit by a huge white energy ball.. It left an angry black hole. The living coat faced him again, making a horizontal movement with it's right arm.  
The ground opened under his feet and he sunk in effectively kept at place. Trying to free himself he felt on his butt.  
Cabu squeaked in fear. The living coat stood only several steps in front of him, lifting both sleeves.  
Ichigo coughed. His whole body seemed to be squeezed by an invisible force. Whatever the monster did, it could kill him.

„_Damn, king. Focus your reiatsu!"_  
Ichigo felt the energy of his hollow floating through his body. The creature doubled its efforts. Ichigo raised his hands. Every move cost him a lot of energy. He released all of his reiatsu in a bright flash. The boy felt his hollow's presence drifting away. Alarmed he tried to reach for it.  
„_I won't leave you, king. Not now. Hang in there!"_  
Ichigo concentrated on the coat. It wasn't impressed by their attack. Ichigo took everything he had for another strike, combined it with all of Hichigo's energy.

--boom--

Their combined reiatsu exploded. Ichigo only saw white stars in front of his eyes. He was exhausted and didn't realise his feet had come free suddenly. He closed his eyes.

_Even in his inner world he lay panting on the floor. It was weird. He couldn't sense his hollow._  
„_Hichigo! Where are you?"_  
„_King..."  
He looked to his right where the voice had come from. It could barely be heard. Only a few steps away his hollow __was in the same position as himself. Ichigo got up to his feet. He needed more than one try but finally stumbled over to Hichigo._  
„_Hey, what's up?"  
He lifted Hichigo's head carefully. He was covered in blood. It contrasted with his white skin, hair and clothes._  
„_Good job, king. Seems you stay alive."_  
„_Don't dare to die on me!"  
Panic grew in Ichigo. His inner world became cloudy._  
„_If you die, I will die as well, you remember? These were your own words!"  
Ichigo saw yellow eyes losing more light with every passing second._  
„_You won't..."  
Hichigo's words were hardly a whisper. His breath rasped._  
„_Don't die..."  
Ichigo had never liked his hollow but in the few days in this world he had been saved by him many times. Maybe they could get along in the future. They could change from enemies to allies.  
Hichigo didn't hear him._  
„_...you...will...live...you're ...not...a normal...Vai...zard."_  
„_What do you mean?"  
Ichigo stared down on his other self._  
„_I'm... only... a...pro...duct...of...your...so...soul...an ex...periment"_  
„_An experiment? For what?"  
Hichigo's eyes lost their last spark of life. He got limp. Ichigo tensed._  
„_Hichigo? HICHI!"  
He shook the limp body. It started to rain. He closed Hichigo's eyes, feeling as if he was ripped apart. He raised his head. His inner world looked weakened._  
„_What happened here? Why these wounds?"  
Ichigo glanced at his dead hollow in his arms. His eyes went wide. Hichigo started __to slowly disappear into thin air._  
„_What the...?"  
Staring at his now empty hands he noticed his own wounds. He clenched his fists.  
Whatever the living coat was, it had massively damaged his inner world.  
Shocked__ he looked up, forcing himself out of his thoughts.  
'The living coat...'_

Rain and pain were the first things he noticed. Then a relieved chirp. He opened his eyes and was greeted by a black ball of fur.  
„Cabu..."  
He could barely move. Turning his head he saw the coat. It lay lifeless on the floor.  
„We won... But at what cost. Hichigo…"  
He was still unable to fully comprehend what had happened in his inner world. Only the huge gap left behind registered somehow.  
He forced a weak smile.  
„Hey Cabu...can you find us a shelter?"  
The boy asked quietly. Cabu's reply was another meow and it took off. Taking a deep breath he stood up. He might be injured in his inner world but here he wasn't. Only exhausted and weak.  
Ichigo examined the coat. Large black bandages fell from the cloth.  
„Meow!"  
„Have you found anything?"  
The little chimera nodded. Looking down it landed on the bandages. Cabu picked them up and showed the way. Draping the coat over his arm Ichigo followed.

------ End Chapter 4--------

Note from the beta: I'm sorry to have caused further delay to getting out this chapter. I took some extra care with this important chapter. I'm always amazed by Archangel's writing skills and wanted to do this great work justice. Please leave her some reviews, I know she lives for them.


	5. New Possibilities

------ Chapter 5 – New possibilities -------- 

More than a week. Nine days, fifteen hours and twenty-eight minutes to be concrete. Nearly ten days ago Ichigo got lost. Nearly ten days had passed and they couldn't do anything to help him. They still knew nothing. Seven days had passed since the encounter with the Arrancar. Five since Urahara locked himself up in his laboratory. Four days since he had returned to Soul Society. And two days ago Kon had reported to Isshin that Ichigo's body lost weight as if he wasn't eating properly although he ate more than usual.  
Renji couldn't say why he counted every minute of every moment Ichigo was missing. Dreaming of Ichigo stopped after the attack. His warning echoed in his mind. The redhead shinigami wanted to tell himself it had been an illusion. That his mind played a trick on him. But Zabimaru said it was true. It had been Ichigo's voice. Why did he hear him?  
Zabimaru wasn't really useful. His reply was always the same. „_Find the answer on your own!"_

But that wasn't the only problem that occupied his mind. The dreams might be gone but he had other dreams instead. He couldn't remember every part of the dreams. They weren't alarming like the ones of a certain lost shinigami but they caused him to wake up heavily panting, too. Only the reason was different. The new dreams were hot. He had to admit that he liked it, although he never remembered who the person in his passionate dreams was.  
„_Stop thinking and go back to work if you ever want to do anything useful!"_

_And you are nice as always, Zabimaru._

„_Hey, I stopped complaining about the rain in your inner world, did I?"_

_You call that nice? Try something else. Like telling me who the person in the dream __was or why I heard Ichigo's voice?_

„_Well...no. But I can tell you that your hot dream paid us a visit in your inner world."_

_WHAT??? _

„_Yes we had a visitor. Even the rain got warmer to welcome him." Zabimaru mocked Renji._

„_Whatever. Go back to work now!"_

_HIM??? Wait! Stop! _

Renji heard Zabimaru laughing and could almost see him grinning widely. He hit his head on his desk. A pile of paper sailed to the floor. It wasn't the first one. The floor was covered almost completely with his paperwork.

„If you want to go back to the living world you should work on the papers not throw them away."  
He glanced up. Rukia stood in the door frame.  
„Hi Rukia! What's up?"  
„I should ask you! You're not the same since our return from Hueco Mundo. We're all worried about Ichigo and you don't need to feel guilty. Ichigo did what he wanted to. He always wants to rescue everyone."  
„Che, I know. He's a fool."  
He turned his attention back to his work, trying to ignore the other shinigami and his own thoughts as well.

Rain fell down on gray grounds, colouring gray to black. Cabu followed the black figure in front of it. The black coat was long but didn't leave any traces on the wet, gray floor. You could see the movements of every step but no foot was seen. Long black sleeves were crossed. Their ends hung down limply. The hood hid everything beneath.Cabu chirped in worry, sensing it's friends mood still sad.  
„What's up, Cabu? Still afraid of the coat?" The question came muffled from the coat. The sleeves lift up and shoved the hood from a grayish-orange head. Only Ichigo's eyes weren't hidden. He wore a mask of bandages over mouth and nose. His eyes were deep and lifeless.  
Cabu meowed and nuzzled his hair.  
„Sorry Cabu. I can't explain what happened. Can you go on for another hour or two or do you want to sit on my head?" It meowed thankfully and landed on his head. When it had finished making itself comfortable Ichigo pushed the hood over his head.

He had walked through the gray land every day since he had arrived. Ichigo couldn't count the days because the change between night and day wasn't noticeable and since the rain had started it was black as night the whole time. The rain was cold just like the rain in his inner world. It didn't stop. The faint trace of Zangetsu was his only hope left. A reason to keep on walking. Rain. Coldness. Hunger. Void.  
They were his permanent companions.  
He remembered the awful day only too vividly. The day his hollow died in his arms, saving his life with his sacrifice.  
_I did not even have the chance to thank him._  
After the encounter with the living coat Cabu had found a cave and Ichigo had taken a long rest. Cabu had helped him to put the bandages around his body. Black bandages covered his arms, torso and parts of his face. Other bandages were bound around his legs over his slightly torn hakama. The disguise was complete with his subdued reiatsu. He had not been attacked for days. Neither he nor Cabu had found a lot to eat, barely enough to keep him and Cabu from starving.

The rain stopped. Ichigo blinked and stopped.  
„What the hell is this?!?"  
He looked back over his shoulder. There was the gray land with its rain. He returned his gaze back to the scenery in front of him. Colors. Sunshine.  
He looked to the floor. He stood on a border. One side was gray the other green.  
„Cabu, pinch me. I think I fell asleep."  
He felt a move under his hood.  
„Ow!!!" He hissed when Cabu bit his ear.  
Ichigo took a few steps forward. Immediately he was surrounded by warmth. The gras under his feet was bright green. The sky was blue and only tiny, white clouds were seen.  
„This is real?"  
Cabu crawled out of the coat and flew large circles around the staring boy, chirping excitedly.

While Ichigo stared at the coloured country in front of his eyes, Renji got a little help. Rikichi ran from one corner to the other and back arranging the papers. Hanatarou organized the paperwork as well. Both of the smaller shinigami took filled paper to their destination. Renji smiled.  
„You two are a great help! It's nearly done!"  
„Always at your service, Abarai-fukutaichou." Rikichi beamed happily.  
„When you're done, I will accompany you to the living world. Medical support for the searching unit." Hanatarou replied. His face being hidden behind a huge stack of paper.  
„There will be a meeting at Urahara's tomorrow with all volunteers. Hitsugaya-taichou will lead the team. Your work must be done until then."  
„I know, I know!"  
Renji devoted himself to his work. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Rikichi carrying a stack of paper that reached over his head.  
„Oi,Rikichi be careful with..."  
„Uaahhhhhhhh!"  
„...the pile..."  
The large pile of paper flooded the floor.  
„S...Sorry, Abarai-fukutaichou!"  
Rikichi stared at the papers and in the next instant he franticly shoved the paperwork from one side to the other.  
„Never mind, Rikichi! That's cleared up quickly."

„Cabu? Hey Cabu! Where are you?"  
Ichigo surveyed the rolling countryside. Green hills lay to each side of him. His black coat made him stand out. But no chimera had attacked him since he wore it, although he could sense them.  
He hit his forehead with his palm. Sensing...  
Sometimes he asked himself how he could manage to survive. He concentrated on Cabu's presence. After the long and lonely days they had grown together. It was easy to find it now. He sensed the little chimera two or three hills to the left. With quick steps he ran to Cabu.  
„Hey Cabu! Did you find any..."  
He was stunned. Behind the second hill he saw a lake surrounded by fruit trees. Cabu came from the lake to meet him, chirping exitedly.  
Enough water to drink AND bath. Enough fruit to eat. No enemies.  
He gave Cabu a weak smile and patted it.  
„Good job, Cabu!" It meowed in response. They walked together to a sheltered corner between the lake and the fruit trees. Cabu made a steep dive right into the middle of the lake.  
„Well, at least you're not scared of water!" Ichigo said more to himself than to Cabu. He closed his eyes and reached out with his reiatsu. He felt small animals and many fishes but nothing dangerous.  
_It seems to be safe here._

He took off his new coat and the bandages under it. Still unwinding the bandages from his torso, Cabu emerged from the water and began unwinding the bandages from his legs. A few moments later Ichigo jumped into the water, while Cabu flew from tree to tree.  
_What the hell...why can't I get the gray off of my skin?_  
Ichigo scrubbed his skin but a trace of gray stayed.  
_Well... maybe with soap and a lot of hot water when I'll return home...shit..."if" would be the better word...damn... Zangetsu is still far away. What will happen if a chimera attacks that can't get killed by hand-to-hand combat?_  
He stopped his attempt to become free of gray and went back to the pile of his clothes. He sat down, letting himself dry by the sun. Cabu had collected some fruits and lay them down beside him. Ichigo watched it getting one or two fruits and heading back to him. From time to time the little creature stopped and ate something, then it repeated its actions. Ichigo understood it as a demand to eat properly.  
_Kidou would be the solution. But how to use it? What would be if kidou was a kind of using reiatsu? Was the discharge of Hichigo's and my combined reiatsu uncontrolled kidou? Well... there's also... er... binding. Rukia used it on me at our first encounter. Then... destruction...the others attacked with their kidou abilities... and healing. Without this aspect I would be dead already. What would Hichigo say? „Use your imagination!"_

Ichigo snickered sadly.  
„Use your imagination...as if that would be the answer to every question!" He muttered to himself, staring at the fruit in his hand. He concentrated a part of his reiatsu on the fruit, imagining it as a knife cutting the fruit.  
For several minutes he stared at the fruit until...

---Splash---

...it exploded. Ichigo sighed and brushed the remains off his naked chest and face, leaving a sticky juice on it. Obviously he had overdone it a little.  
„I will need a lot of practice...but at least I used kidou... or something similar."  
He let his eyes wander. Unconsciously searching for Cabu. Something was different. The substitute shinigami found Cabu still hovering from tree to tree. It chirped happily. He reached out with his senses.

A shadow. Deep black and tall as a tree.  
„Cabu! Watch out!"  
Ichigo heard an irritated squeak. He shunpoed as quick as possible. Right behind Cabu a tree-tall chimera appeared. It was a mixture of bear and crocodile.  
Too late.  
The monster sent Cabu to the ground with one angry punch. It squeaked and stayed motionless.  
Ichigo kicked. His kick rebounded against thick, hard scales.  
Growling the monster turned around. It eyed Ichigo hungrily.  
„Don't dare to touch my friend!"  
Although he spoke the words with anger, he wasn't really impressive as he stood there dressed only in his boxers. Still he tried to attack. Well he tried but his fist landed on scales.  
„Shit...!"  
Ichigo held his hurting hand, not noticing the claw aimed at him. It left angry slashes on his chest. Soon blood covered his whole torso. He jumped back.  
_Concentration. Easy to say._  
Dodging the claws and tail too many times to count, he tried to concentrate on his reiatsu. He let his reiatsu spread out. It was enough to irritate the bear-crocodile-chimera.  
Ichigo didn't waste time, snatched Cabu from the floor and shunpoed to a save distance.  
He concentrated his reiatsu, imagining a ball of energy in his hand. His fingers were tingly. Ichigo looked down. A tiny spark of light formed in his palm.  
_Grow! Please grow!_  
He had no time to waste. The chimera had found him and headed forward. Ichigo looked down again, still concentrating on the image of a ball. When it had grown to the size of a bowling ball he threw it against the beast. The ball exploded...  
_Damn!_  
Before it reached its goal. The chimera stopped for a moment. Ichigo started another attempt. This time he could produce the ball quicker than the last time.  
„Trial and error! Take this!!!!" He shouted, throwing the second ball of energy against it.  
Ichigo had to wait until the dust had settled. Leaving a burnt hole between the trees, the chimera disintegrated to dust.  
„Cabu? Cabu!"  
He nudged his little friend carefully. Ichigo shoved the panic aside. Cabu was still breathing, but slow and uneven. He calmed down, focussing his reiatsu on Cabu. Remembering how Zangetsu had stopped his wounds in the fight against Kenpachi, Ichigo tried to copy the effect on Cabu.  
„Cabu, please hang on! Don't leave me, too!"

Renji blinked. His view cleared slowly. White stacks of paper greeted him.  
_I just had to doze off..._  
„_What have you seen this time? Your dreams are very interesting lately."  
Well...hard to tell if that even was a dream, Zabimaru...I don't think Ichigo would fight against a monster, dressed in his boxers._  
„_Er...probably not..."_  
Renji didn't hear the hesitation in Zabimaru's voice.  
_And he used a kind of kidou, but I can't tell which spell it was. It __definitely was a dream... Ichigo can't use kidou, he has never learnt it..._  
„_You should clear your mind and finish these damn papers. You only have 6 hours and you need a shower and sleep, too!"_  
Renji blinked again... first Zabimaru had been very interested and then suddenly he changed the topic... he wished he had time to think about that, but his zanpakutou was right. Rikichi and Hanatarou had already left the office. One pile was left on his desk.  
_Ichigo would never fight in his boxers...but he looked so fucking good. __His toned chest...his firm ass..._  
Renji slapped himself and cursed. He wanted to rescue Ichigo, not seduce him. Moreover he never thought himself attracted to males. Renji took the next paper, trying to forget these thoughts.

A pile of paperwork, a three-hour-sleep and a shower later Renji sat in Urahara's shop with the others of the Ichigo-rescue-team.  
„My, my. Are we complete? Then follow me!"  
Urahara greeted and walked ahead out of the house. Behind his shop stood a huge machine. It looked like a portal with a big computer at its side.  
„Ladies and gentlemen, here I present you my newest invention! An unknown-dimensions-portal or short udp. With this little portal we can search other dimensions for Kurosaki-san."  
„Hey, great! When can we start?"  
„Well, there are a few things that should be mentioned first. First, the portal can stay open for only two hours. Second, we can't decide where we'll go and third we can't visit a dimension twice."  
„Urahara, is this really safe?"  
„We will see!"  
Urahara laughed nervously behind his fan.

----- End Chapter 5 -----


	6. The door within

Mysticerzengel: Thanks to all my reviewers and readers, you busted the 1000hits-line ;) Well, my beta said I shall warn you...

xtrek: Read with caution: loads of descriptive and suggestive language concerning Renji's tattoos and hair. Especially the hair nosebleeds

mysticerzengel: I'm interested on your opinion, please tell me And now enough of words. Enjoy it

------ Chapter 6 – The door within --------

The rising sun was the only clue for Ichigo how much time had passed since the chimera had attacked. He watched Cabu sleeping in a nest of his bandages. Its breathing had returned to normal only an hour ago. The teenager didn't know how many hours he had spent with healing his little friend. Several bones had been broken and more than once had he thought that Cabu had died in his hands. But now it slept peacefully.  
„Sorry that you had to be my guinea pig."  
He whispered and stroked Cabu's long cattail carefully. When he was sure that it wasn't in danger anymore, he stood up and cleaned his own wound on his chest in the lake. In his first attempt to heal Cabu he had stopped the bleeding on his chest instead of Cabu's. Now the slash started to bleed slowly again.

After most of the day and a whole night that he had spent on healing, his slash wasn't a big deal. It was a clear cut through his skin, not too deep. Ichigo concentrated his remaining energy on the wound. His fingertips glowed in a bluish-white light. When he touched his bleeding skin, the slash caught the light. His energy danced over the skin, closing the wound without leaving a scar.  
_Crash course in healing...perhaps I should figure out how to analyze an injury before I try to heal it the next time.I hope it really was only a cut through my skin._  
Ichigo stared at his chest. With a sigh he stepped out of the water and put his clothes on. Then he carried Cabu, still lying in its nest, and some fruits to a tree. Ichigo climbed up the tree and made himself comfortable on a branch and set Cabu on his stomach. He hesitated to fall asleep. The dimension was not a place to sleep peacefully. Chimeras dropped by again and again. Ichigo didn't know if they were still attracted by his reiatsu. But he could not suppress his reiatsu forever. Hichigo had warned him. But what could he do?  
_I wish I could sense my surroundings in my sleep like a dragon. It seems to be so easy for them in the last book I have read._  
With this thought he dozed off.

_It was still raining in his inner World. The clouds still almost black.  
'Why I am here? Here isn't anyone who could call me!'  
Ichigo wandered over the damaged skyscraper. Many windows were cracked. He crouched down and touched the floor.  
'Hichigo's death left a mark. When will it heal?'  
Ichigo got up and went further. Only the rain and the sounds from his steps could be heard. The rain was depressing.  
'I should go. It's lonely without Zangetsu and Hichigo. Being out in the rain won't help me.'  
He noticed something blinking from the corner of his eyes.  
'What was that glint?'_

„My, my... the KIRT has many members...we have to form different groups!"  
Urahara looked at the group. Fifteen shinigami and humans stood in front of him. Everyone was willing to search Ichigo. Ichigo's human friends Inoue, Sado and Ishida stood near the portal. Rukia, Renji and Hanatarou on their left side.  
„I'm sorry, but what does KIRT mean?"  
Hanatarou asked Renji quietly.  
„Kurosaki-Ichigo-Rescue-Team of course, where did I stop? Ah! We'll split up in three groups. The first one will go through the portal, the second one will patrol in town and the third group will work in Soul Society as ordered by Yamato-soutaichou."  
Urahara surveyed all those present.  
„We'll draw lots to see who belongs to which group. Our healers first. Inoue-san, Hantarou-san and Isane-san please take one."  
He held three pieces of papers in his hands. Each oft he three took one.  
„Unohana-taichou strongly advised having a healer in each group. And I think an expert in sensing reiatsu should..."  
„An expert? Why? Even a novice could sense Ichigo's reiatsu!"  
„Well, in this case..."  
Urahara dropped three more papers into a bowl already filled with some paper scraps.  
„Everyone take one paper. They are numbered from one to three. After drawning your number join your group gathering around their healer."  
He turned to the three healers and pointed to his left side.  
„Who got the number one? Ah, Hanatarou-san. Please, to my left. Number two? Isane-san, please stay here and Inoue-san? Group 3 please gather to my right."

The former captain held the bowl in front of Sado and Ishida, who pulled out a piece of paper. Sado went over to Hanatarou and Ishida to Isane. Hitsugaya followed Ishida and Matsumoto and walked to Inoue. In the end all members of the rescue team were divided in three groups. The first contained Hanatarou, Sado, Rukia, Yumichika and Shuuhei. Next to Isane stood Ishida, Hitsugaya, Renji and Kira. The last group around Inoue consisted of Matsumoto, Ikkaku and Kenpachi with Yachiru.  
„So far so good."Urahara gave Tessai a sign. Tessai nodded and took out a board. A timetable was written on it.  
„As you can see, I have checked the time thoroughly. The dimension-group will start at eight in the morning with the first dimension. Because of our time limit we can check two different dimensions until lunch."

The timetable showed a many changes. Different times were written down and crossed out. It seemed the breaks were added later.

„Then there's time for 3 dimensions and at five p.m. the pupils of us can join their group. At seven there is another break and meeting, where we can exchange our results. After this we'll try to cover another one or two dimensions. But Unohana-taichou ordered the last turn end before midnight, so all of us would get enough sleep." 

„I bet she crossed out the times and added the breaks, too."  
Matsumoto whispered to Ikkaku. Urahara continued without reaction to the questioning faces of his audience.

„The teams one and two will take turns after every dimension. Until then the second group stays here on standby. We don't want to leave the town unprotected. Inoue-san, during school Isane-san or Hanatarou-san will take over your duty and you are on standby. The last group will support Ukitake-taichou in researching and do their job respectively. After two days the third group will take over from the first..."

„I hadn't thought that Urahara could hold a never-ending speech."  
„Me neither!"  
Urahara shot death glares over his fan to Yumichika and Shuuhei, who had whispered to each other. Both of them winced.  
„Have you listened to what I just said?"  
„Er...something about the twelfth division and an invention?"  
„Right! They sent us their newest invention. They are very interested in the unknown dimensions."  
The former captain pointed at a box and took out a strange camera. Well it was a neon green bandana with a webcam. He threw it to Renji who caught it.  
„New? What's new? The aggressive colour?"  
Renji was right. The neon green combined with his red hair was a pain to everyone's eyes.  
„You can get a neon pink one, if you don't stop complaining, freeloader-san. These cameras contain a special sensor so they can record every detail of the new area. Plants, composition of air and earth, life-forms and so on. Also they are connected to the central computer in the base of the twelfth which means they can tell us immediately if Kurosaki-san is present or not."  
„Hmpf... are you done with talking? Then let's start!"  
„Wait, wait! Not so fast! Why can't we search in two dimensions at the same time?"  
Rukia asked, taking a bandana in pink and giving a neon green one to Hanatarou.  
„The gate has to stay open otherwise you can't return."

_'What's this? A door?'  
Ichigo stood in front of a building in his inner world. It was nothing really special about it, but it had a door. A mahogany tree was painted on it with bright colours._  
„_Has it always been here?"  
Ichigo followed the fine lines with his index finger. He remembered his dream.  
'Can I reach the rainforest with the lake through this door? Maybe I can see the others again.'_

_The door wasn't closed completely. So he could push it open. Carefully he looked through the door.  
On the other side the door was inside of a tree. It rained on both sides, but the rain on the other side was warmer. Ichigo stretched out his right hand, catching several raindrops. Finally he went through the door and closed it behind him. The rain was comforting and calmed him down. There it was again. The feeling of being welcomed and protected. Like an embrace. Ichigo liked it. Pain and sorrow seemed far away. As if somebody told him „Everything is going to be alright!"  
This world had something encouraging about it. Like the smiles of his friends. Their laughter. Their jokes. Hell, he missed them, even Renji's mocking. _

_Ichigo wanted to laugh with them, to forget the damned days in the unknown dimension. To forget the pain, the cold rain, the hunger, the danger and the death.  
He sunk to the floor, leaning against a mahogany tree. A sprig reached to his head.  
Tears followed the rain drops over his face. Everything in this world comforted and refreshed him._  
„_I'm really pathetic."  
Ichigo muttered and dried his face. Well, as dry as possible with a soaked uniform. He noticed a movement.  
'Do I imagine things or does the tree pat me?'  
His eyes went wide and he stared at the tree. The sprig above his head lightly swayed up and down. But there was no wind.  
'Strange...but it felt... like...yeah like our hide-and-seek-game with the Arrancar back in Hueco Mundo when Renji held me close nearly suffocating me. How embarrassing...'  
Several memories of Hueco Mundo flashed through his mind ending with the last images of Ichigo throwing Renji through the other gate. Suddenly he hopped to his feet.  
'Is Renji alright? The fight against Grimmjaw...I have to find the lake again. Maybe I can see him again.'  
Ichigo looked around and headed in the direction in which he thought the lake had to be. He was right. The lake was there. Quickly he rushed to the place from last time and sat down, staring into the water.  
'Please. Show me Renji, please!'_

_His expectations were not disappointed. After a few moments he saw red hair. The sight brought relief to Ichigo. Renji's eyes were closed. His long, red hair was soaked and was pressed flat against his head and back. The colour was fascinating. A bright red colour. Long strands of hair framed black tattoos. Ichigo followed the lines with his eyes, starting right behind the ear where a long wet strand played over the tattoos. Further over strong shoulders, making a contrast between the red of the hair and the black of the tattoos. Ichigo could not help staring at the bare back coated with water and a mess of red strands and black lines. He fought the urge to touch the lines and hair, but couldn't stop his eyes continuing to follow the lines to a well-formed butt._

_'Wait...water...bare back...wet hair...'  
Ichigo heard the splashing of the shower and Renji's low and rasped voice._  
„_Ichigo..."  
Ichigo jumped back, panting.  
'That isn't real. I have not just watched him showering. That was only an imagination...He must never know that I watched...he mustn't...'  
Ichigo hopped to his feet and rushed through the rainforest to the door that lead back to his inner world. With a colour in his face that would put the blood rushing through his veins to shame.  
'That was NOT real. It CAN'T be real. Damn...'  
He threw open the door to his inner world and shut it close._

In that moment both shinigami thought the same thing.  
_This is the first time I'm happy that I have not to face him now. I couldn't look into his eyes._

Renji jammed his fist against the wall of the shower.  
_I didn't imagine this right now... fuck..._  
He turned the water to cold, trying to freeze away his thoughts. He turned it off and got ready when he heard Kira shouting.  
„Abarai-kun, the first group just came back. It's our turn!"  
„I'm on the way!"

_Back in the rainforest Zabimaru looked at certain door._  
„_That is getting more interesting with each passing day. Maybe I should show Renji the door, then I can visit Zangetsu. And...maybe the rain will stop if they meet each other."_

----- End chapter 6 ------


	7. Curiosity

**Title:** Destined Fate

**Chapter:** 7of 17? – Curiosity  
**Author:** mysticarchangel  
**Beta:**xtrek  
**Pairing:** Ichigo/Renji (well I think it's clear now that it won't stay at hints)  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** plot bunnies out of control  
**Word****Count**: 3936  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo  
**Summary:**In the real world the shinigami are working hard to rescue Ichigo from the unknown dimension while he learns more about his inner world. Renji dreams and gets closer to Ichigo.

----- Chapter 7 - Curiosity (kills the cat) -------

„No sign of life. There were only rocks."  
Rukia reported. Urahara nodded and prepared the UDP, the unknown-dimension-portal, for the next group.  
„Did the connection to the communication central work?"  
„Yes, although we had to wait for the results for 90 minutes, otherwise we could have returned earlier."  
Urahara started the UDP and looked up. The members of the first group were sending out the information collected by the cameras.  
„Group 2 ready?"  
The named group took their camera-bandanas. Isane and Ishida got a pink one, the others neon-green headbands.  
„Let's go!"Hitsugaya went through the gate first, followed by Ishida and Kira.

Renji and Isane looked at each other and nodded. Then they disappeared through the portal.  
The portal led to a small island surrounded by what appeared to be an ocean. Renji looked around. Kira knelt on the ground, staring into the deep water, Isane beside him. Ishida walked around the island. His hike ended after 10minutes.  
„Woah...there's water wherever you look!"  
„I don't think Kurosaki could be here."  
„What now?"  
„We'll wait. The twelfth wants data."  
„Of a water dimension? Here is nothing of interest! We could use the time much better!"  
„I know, but complaining doesn't help."

----- Ichigo's inner World -----

Ichigo leaned against the door he had just stepped through. The image of Renji was still vivid in his mind.  
_Damn...what had happened? I didn't want to watch him...I didn't enjoy it, I didn't enjoy it! I won't think about it._  
He shook his head and tried to think of something else. Ichigo eyed the door suspiciously.  
_Well, maybe there are other doors in my inner world. Will they lead me to other worlds?_  
Ichigo left the door with the mahogany tree behind him, trying to keep the thoughts out of his mind by concentrating on another subject. But he was curious. Why did this door lead him to Renji? Why Renji of all people? Why not anyone of his family? They were closer to him than Renji, so why? There were too many „why"s and Ichigo doubted that he wanted to know the answer to all of them.  
If he found another door, would it lead him to other images of his friends? Would he be able to find out if all of them were alright?

He started to wander around, for the first time actually taking a look around. He had never spent time looking around properly. Either Zangetsu or Hichigo were always there. Fighting. Arguing. Explaining. Sometimes even comforting. It was silent in his inner world. He heard the rain drops hitting the window panes. Ichigo asked himself how it could still rain rain here despite of his confusion.  
He had never thought that his inner world might be so big. After a few minutes shunpoing he didn't know where he had started.

_Great. I should work on my inner world. Everything here looks too much alike. The buildings are still damaged from my fight with this living coat thing. All I can see are grey walls, broken windows, the ground and the skyline. Regardless of the direction I choose to go, it's the same everywhere besides the door with the mahogany tree and this weird red shimmer over there..._

Ichigo blinked. Something red? In his inner world? He stopped nearly midair and ran back to the red glimmer that had caught his eyes.  
Stopping in front of the new-found door, he examined it closer. Like the first one he had found it wasn't very peculiar. The red shimmer did not come from the door itself. The door was slightly open. The red light came from the other side.

_Red light...uh...should I?_

Ichigo reached out...and hesitated. Something behind this door obviously glowed red.  
„Well... curiosity kills the cat.. I hope it doesn't kill shinigami, too."  
Ichigo took several deep breaths and opened the door completely.  
„Wow...and I thought my inner world was monotone."  
Behind the door lay not only a room. Another world stretched before his eyes. A black path lead through a landscape of small hills, rivers of lava and small vulcanoes here and there. Flames leapt to meet him, but didn't burn him. Immediately he was surrounded by heat and the smell of ash. Even here it rained, although the raindrops did not reach the ground.  
The ground was warm. Ichigo felt the heat under his feet with every step. It travelled up from his soles through his body. His soaked clothes were slowly dried.  
Suddenly a fountain of fire shot out of the lava stream right in front of him. The lava seethed and leapt over him.  
„ABOUT TIME, ICHIGO!"  
The fire around him hissed and growled with a seething voice.  
„HOW COULD YOU DARE TO LEAVE ME HERE!"  
„Who are you? Where are you?"  
Ichigo asked confusedly. Turning around, he only saw fire, lava and rocks.  
„HOW COULD YOU DARE!!!"  
Another fountain of fire shot out of the floor and threw Ichigo to the ground.  
Ichigo blinked. He was not hurt. He did not catch fire.  
„Stop the rain! Stop the damned rain! It isn't right to rain here. It's your fireland not a rainland."  
Ichigo felt small hits against his chest and looked down.  
A child with hair so red like fire clung to his chest and punched against it without real force. Ichigo stroked over its head. It was obvious that he was not in danger.  
„What do you mean with 'your fireland'? And who are you?"  
He asked the child friendly. He put the child on its feet and got up, too, brushing the dust from his uniform.  
„Sorry, where were my manners. I'm Hibana. And this..."  
The child bowed and opened its arms widely, gesturing to their surroundings.  
„...this is your fireland. The fire inside of you."  
Ichigo took a closer look at the kid in front of him. Hibana was a small boy who only reached up to his hips. He was dressed in traditional clothes. A black kimono with an obi that fit his red hair. The kimono had flame patterns on it.

_Hibana? Fireland? Wait...doesn't Hibana mean 'spark'?_

Ichigo was still confused, but everything seemed completely normal to Hibana. He did not explain things further.  
„Ok...Hibana, what does a boy like you do in my inner world and why is a fireland in it?"  
„Oh... isn't it obvious? I'm an elementary or elemental ghost. In my case a fire elementary. A fire ghost. I'm your inner fire."  
„Er...well...fine...why have I never heard of you before? And why did you just appear now?"  
Ichigo rubbed his temples, speaking more to himself than to Hibana.  
„Now? I haven't just appeared. I have always been here."  
Hibana said innocently. His green eyes were huge and he looked at Ichigo questioningly. Ichigo stared down, stopping to rub his temples.  
„You want to tell me that you were always here?"  
„Yup!"  
„Great! I was always insane. That's really encouraging."  
„Yes!"  
„..."  
„Er... NO! You're not insane!"  
Hibana waved his arms up and down.  
„And I thought getting a hollow was crazy. No, now I got also an elementary. And this isn't weird?"  
„Every shinigami can get an elemental ghost. That isn't unusual."  
„And why has nobody cared to tell me before?"  
„I don't know..."  
Ichigo regretted his questions as he saw Hibana's sad eyes. How could he forget that Hibana was a child?  
„Sorry, kid. Don't be sad!"  
He got on his knees and stroked the fire ghost's hair.  
„Maybe the ether ghost knows an answer. The Ether connects everything."  
Hibana beamed up.  
„The Ether?"  
„Ether, heaven, void or 'ku'. There are many names for it but it's the same element... I guess."  
„Ah...'ku'... ninjutsu?"  
Hibana nodded happily when Ichigo mentioned the martial art.  
„Then you are 'ka' , right?"  
„Yes! You can use my power in fights!"  
The elementary threw a few punches into the air. He stopped in the middle of his motions.  
„You have to go back! Do I have to stay here, onii-sama?"  
The kid looked at Ichigo pleadingly. He looked reluctant to stay alone.  
„We can leave the door open. Some companionship in my empty world would be fine. But I must warn you: The rain outside is stronger than here."  
Ichigo pointed to the door which led to the main part of his world.  
„Onii-sama should stop the rain!"  
With that the conversation was back to its beginning. Ichigo sighed.

---- Inner world end -----

Ichigo opened his eyes. Why did he wake up? All of his senses were tingling. In the same moment he stood and looked around.

„Meow.."  
Cabu's voice was weak, although the most beautiful sound that he heard over the last days.  
„Hey Cabu, stay in your nest. You're still weak."  
Ichigo turned his little friend and calmed it down. It lay in its nest right by his side. Cabu meowed again.  
„You must be hungry. Here eat this."  
Ichigo held a tiny berry in front of its eyes. Gratefully Cabu ate it, meowed again and fell asleep again.  
„Today we will rest, but tomorrow we have to go. You're going to travel under my hood again."  
He said quietly, petting it carefully.

„How much longer do we have to stay, Hitsugaya-taichou?"  
„Abarai-fukutaichou, if you ask one more time..."  
Kira and Ishida stared at the water. Small ice crystals started forming on its surface. Renji was rescued by a beep from Hitsugaya's modified mobile. The taichou answered it and listened. After a few minutes he hung up.  
„We are leaving!"  
Without waiting for a response he walked through the portal.  
„How long did we wait for this order?"  
Kira asked and looked at Isane.  
„I think an hour and a half. That's the minimum we have to stay in each dimension."  
Renji and Ishida shrugged.  
„...Hey guys...we should hurry!"  
„Why, Kira-san?"  
„Our portal is drifting away."  
„WHAT?!?"  
Kira was right. The portal was now on the verge of being swallowed by the ocean, although it had been in the middle of the island before.  
„And I can guess what's happening!"  
„And what is that, mister smart-aleck?"  
Ishida pointed behind him. Renji's eyes went wide.  
„Shit...RUN!"  
A giant tidal wave was threatening to wash them away. They turned on their heels and ran as fast as they could to the portal.  
Kira was the first to reach it and jumped through..

„Kira-san, did anything happen?"  
Hanatarou asked curiously as Kira fell from the portal. The first group was present and waited for their turn.  
„Wave..."  
He could not continue. Only seconds later masses of water shot out of the portal and washed over the other shinigami.  
„My, my, my. Freeloader-san. Did you have to make such a mess?"  
„Che, find someone else to blame. Hey Quincy, get up!"  
Ishida, Renji and Isane were washed through the portal by the wave and lay on the floor in a tangled heap.  
„Oi, Renji! Did something over there think you needed a bath? I thought you had showered just before the mission!"

Hisagi smirked, watching how the soaked shinigami and quincy tried to get up. Renji muttered something inaudible and wrung his clothes.  
„Hey Urahara-san, is the portal really ok? I don't want to get stuck in an unknown dimension forever."  
„A little bit of water can't damage the udp!"  
Urahara said determinedly, but hid his face behind his fan. He glanced at the udp speculatively..  
„Alright, let's go!"  
Urahara started the portal again and the first group disappeared through the gate, leaving the wet mess in the living world. Renji and his group was on break now. Renji would have time for another shower – this time a warm one – and changing his clothes.

Thirty minutes later Renji was warm and dry. He lay on his futon, staring at the ceiling. 90 minutes left till their next turn. Depending on how interesting team one's dimension was, he could rest for that time.

----- Renji's dream -----

He stood on a window. Not simply on a window. This window made up the floor. When he looked up his eyes met the rain. It was warm and calming. He had never thought that rain might be comforting. The skyscrapers were damaged. Windows were cracked. Walls crumbled.

_Bleak and hurt. Why it is so painful to see the damaged buildings? These buildings shouldn't be damaged. It seems so wrong._

Renji looked around, wondering about the reason for the damage. What had happened? An earthquake? A hurricane? He stopped in front of a large window. It was dirty and he could not see what lay behind it. Renji used his sleeve to polish it. He cleaned it from dirt and rain.  
The red haired shinigami stared into the window and saw...

nothing.  
It was pitch black on the other side. Renji polished the window pane again. This time with more force. He did not know why, but he knew he had to see something. He stared at the glass again.  
Finally he saw something different than darkness. The darkness faded away and left a sight of bright green gras and a huge lake. It was deep blue and calm. Renji surveyed the edge of the lake. Several trees stood there and created shadowy places.  
His eyes caught a glimpse of well-known orange.  
_Ichigo? But how can it be?_

As if the window reacted to Renji's thoughts, the view scrolled nearer. It really was Ichigo. He looked a little bit grey. His hair was a mixture of grey and orange, his face was grey, too, but had white stripes on it. Renji watched Ichigo taking off black bandages from his arms.

_Are you injured? Oh...more grey...che you need a bath very badly, little strawberry._

Renji surveyed Ichigo's deep brown eyes. They seemed sad and hurt. He liked the chocolate eyes of his strawberry but he could not stand the pain in it. He wished he could hug him. Soothing away loneliness and pain. Renji saw bare skin coming free. Ichigo removed the bandages from his chest. Even there he was slightly grey.

_My sweet little strawberry. I hope you will never find out..._

Slowly inch by inch the bandages fell and left bare skin. Ichigo was a bit skinny and Renji could see that the boy had not eaten enough lately. Although the strip was a nice show for him. His eyes went back to Ichigo's eyes. How would they look when they were filled with lust and desire? Filled with love and joy?  
Renji continued his examination.

_Those lips... what would it be like to touch them, to kiss them or to be kissed by them?_

Renji did not notice the drool dripping down from the corner of his mouth. Mentally touching and caressing the soft skin. In his opinion Ichigo deserved more than fights and war. Why did the boy only get the hard side of live?  
Renji followed the bandages with his eyes, how they were removed. Inch by inch more could be seen of the substitute shinigami.

_I know Ichigo would kill me if he knew, but ..._

Ichigo removed his last clothes and jumped into the lake. Too quick for Renji to admire anything below the waist, though...

_Nice butt..._

Renji slapped himself mentally. He did not just drool over his companion. He was his friend not his lover...All of this shouldn't have happened. And since when was Ichigo HIS strawberry? Since when was he attracted to him... and why? Why did he take so long to notice that his thoughts had taken another direction.

_Ok, I think denial doesn't work anymore... Maybe I do have a little crush on him...May he never know..._

He peered through the window again, seeing Ichigo scrubbing his head. Obviously he would not get rid of the grey without soap and hot water. But he tried.  
Renji found himself dreaming about washing Ichigo's hair. Pampering the worn-out strawberry. And doing a lot of _other_ things to him.

----- Renji's dream end -----

The whole day had passed and Ichigo had spent it with watching over Cabu, collecting food for his further journey and trying to get the grey from his skin. The latter had stayed. He was still greyish. Now he sat in the shadow of a tree, Cabu beside him. It had become colder, so he had had to put on his coat. Lost in his thoughts he ate several fruits for dinner and lay back in the soft gras. He stared up into the black sky. Stars couldn't be seen. Neither a moon. Only darkness.  
He heard Cabu's constant breathing beside him, the wind in the trees and the water. Ichigo curled up into a ball and closed his eyes, keeping his senses on standby. He hoped he could sleep peacefully when his reiatsu was invisible and his senses at least half awake.

In the living world the last turn ended and everyone returned to their homes. As always Renji stayed at Urahara's. A few members of the KIRT were depressed about their lack of results. They had traveled to many dimensions but only in three of them life had been found. No trace of Ichigo.  
His group was going to be the first next morning to start the search. It was better than doing nothing, but everyone knew that there was not much hope to find him. So many dimensions were unknown and the lost boy could be anywhere. Renji closed his eyes and let drift himself away.

----- Renji's inner world ------

Rain greeted him.  
„The rain wasn't that strong a few hours ago during your break. Dreamt anything interesting?"  
Renji turned to Zabimaru. He sat on a tree and looked down at Renji. He smirked.  
„You gave up your denial?"  
„As if you don't know... Zabimaru, spit it out! It was Ichigo from the beginning, right?"  
Zabimaru did not answer. He jumped of the tree and rounded the small lake.  
„You opened a door in your dreams. You'll find it over there!"  
„Can you give any helpful answers?"  
„Well... no! Go and open the door, I'm curios what lies behind."  
Renji groaned loudly, but he headed forward in the said direction. He walked through his inner jungle without paying attention to what he saw. It was the same rainy jungle as always. Almost the same as always. Renji stopped in front of a giant mahogany tree. The tree itself was not that special. There was a door in it. Into its bark a skyscraper was carved..  
„Zabimaru, where does the door lead to?"  
„To your dreams. Good night, Renji!"  
Renji opened the door and walked through. His zanpakutou was as useful as ever...

----- dreams (?) -----

Renji knew this area. It was just like his last dream. The buildings were still damaged. But it seemed their cracks closed very slowly.

_Why am I here again? _

Leaving the door wide open he started to wander around. Wondering why the rain on this side of the door was warmer than in his jungle. Perhaps because it was only a dream.  
He was looking for the window in which he had seen Ichigo before. But something else caught his eye. In one of the windows a well-known orange-grey head was mirrored. Turning around he surveyed the surroundings.  
Renji did not have to search for long. Ichigo stood on the other side of the building. His back was turned to him. He looked up to the sky. He looked so serene and calm.

Ichigo was surprised. Suddenly the rain had become warmer. It was not the same cold rain as usual. It reminded him of the rain in the jungle world. He felt like someone was watching him and he turned around.  
He froze. He was greeted by a certain red haired shinigami.  
They approached to each other and stopped only a few steps in front of the other. Both of them stared at the other unbelievingly.

_This has to be a dream. How could he be here?_

No one made a move. They simply stood there and stared at each other.

What Renji did not know was that Zabimaru had not stayed at 'home'. He had followed his shinigami through the door. Carefully he kept out of sight and attempted not to be noticed by Renji. He searched for Zangetsu. He had to be here.  
„Hello, who are you?"  
Zabimaru turned around to the voice. It sounded like a child. And it was a child. Hibana had left his fireland and visited Ichigo's 'main' world.  
„Are you the zanpakutou of the red haired guy?"  
„Yes. I'm Zabimaru. Where is Zangetsu, kid?"  
„Zangetsu is still sealed. Ichigo is looking for him. I am Hibana."  
„Oh, a fire ghost?"  
Hibana beamed at the monkey with its snake-tail.  
„Yep! Uhm... Zabimaru-san? They are boring! What do you think? How long will they stare at each other? Why can't they simply embrace each other and kiss?"  
„Because we're talking about Ichigo and Renji here? They are too stubborn and too dense to do anything simple. I believe they think that this is only a strange dream."  
„But it could end the rain! I hate the rain! When Renji-san visits this world the rain becomes warm and less heavy. Can't we do anything?"  
„We shouldn't interfere. They have to figure it out on their own."  
Hibana grinned innocently in a way only kids could grin.  
„Why don't we give them a little shove in the right direction? They'll never know."  
Hibana ran away before Zabimaru could reply.  
„What does the kid plan?"

Hibana slipped behind Renji. He had to be careful that Ichigo did not see him. Between the shinigami were still a distance of several steps. Not close enough for Hibana. He wished he was a wind ghost or an earth ghost. Then it would be much easier.  
He was right behind Renji. The young elementary was thankful for the wide hakama. It was easy to hide behind it. And if both of them thought this was a dream, his plan should work.  
He waited for a few moments, hoping they would get a bit closer, but they seemed to be paralyzed.  
Just in the moment as he wanted to push Renji he saw Zabimaru behind Ichigo. The zanpakutou had figured out his plan and seemed willing to help. Zabimaru and Hibana smirked at each other.  
At the same time they pushed both shinigami towards the other. Quickly they disappeared and watched the scene from a save distance.

Ichigo and Renji fell forwards simultaneously. Intuitively Renji closed his arms around Ichigo. Holding him close he dared to look in his eyes. They showed puzzlement. Ichigo blushed and opened his mouth to say something.  
Renji took advantage of this and pressed his lips softly against Ichigo's.

_It's only a dream. Only in my dream I am free to kiss my sweet strawberry._

Ichigo murmured a small protest which was silenced by Renji.

In the background Hibana jumped up and down from joy and Zabimaru grinned. The rain stopped.  
„Yay, no rain, no rain!"  
Hibana sang.  
„I hope we caused no damage to this relationship. It could..."  
Zabimaru disappeared. Renji still kissing Ichigo vanished into thin air, leaving a really confused Ichigo who vanished only seconds later.  
„NO! They can't go, not yet! It would be worse than before..."  
Hibana sprinted to the door with the mahogany tree. It was locked.  
„Damn...it will become worse...No it IS worse..."

-----Dreams/inner worlds end -----

---- Chapter 7 end ----


	8. repression

Mysticerzengel: Sorry for the long wait. Just to let you know: I haven't dropped off the face of Earth and I'm still working on this story. Expect more updates soon. Now on with chapter 8! Enjoy!

--

-- Chapter 8 – Repression--

-- Renji's inner world --

Zabimaru stared at the door. It was still marked with the skyscraper skyline but it was closed. No matter how much he tried, it stayed closed.

_That's not good. I hope they recover from the shock soon or it will become even more complicated. But at least the rain has stopped. That is a good sign, I guess..._

Zabimaru stared at the sky. It was still cloudy but no single rain drop fell.

_If they don't recover...then the door will stay closed until they meet again in reality. And without Zangetsu, Ichigo needs every support that he can get__, I think__._

-- Renji's inner world end --

--

_What was that? A dream? Reality?_

Ichigo blinked up at the starless night sky. He got up and wandered from one tree to another and back again. Not too far away from Cabu, but he did not stop for about an hour. His thoughts were going in circles like he did himself. Was it a dream or had Renji really been in his inner world? How could he get there? And if Renji had really been to his inner world, did that mean he could visit Renji's ,too? Had he already been there before?

_Where are Hichigo or the old man when I need answers?_

He stopped. He knew where Hichigo was. Gone forever. He would not come back. And Zangetsu was still sealed, which was probably his fault. If he only were stronger, he had not to search for his zanpakutou. If he were stronger, Orihime would not have to be rescued. If he were stronger, Cabu wouldn't have been hurt. If he were stronger, he wouldn't be stuck in this dimension. If he were stronger, then Hichigo would be still alive and he might be back home.

But he wasn't. He had to spend his time running away from a lot of chimera. He fought a few, but he could count them on one hand, while he had lost count of his escapes.

He shook his head. This wouldn't help him. He could not get answers this way. Ichigo started pacing again.

_Wait...my inner world... I'm not alone there anymore. If anything happens there, Hibana should know the answers._

But he had to calm down to return there. He would not be successful if he continued walking in circles between the trees. Ichigo sat down next to Cabu who was still asleep and forced himself to calm down.

--

-- Ichigo's inner world --

Ichigo stared at his inner world and could not believe his eyes. No rain. Well it was cloudy and the buildings were still damaged, but they were healing. Very slowly but his world was defintely healing.

_I must be too confused for it to rain here.__ Nice change of pace... well where is the little flame kid..._

„Hibana! Come out!"

Ichigo's yell echoed through his inner world. He did not have to wait for long. Only seconds later the little redhead came sprinting around the corner.

„Onii-sama! Welcome back!"

Hibana jumped into the teenager's arms. Ichigo could not hold back a small smile. The little guy was energetic and it was nice to be greeted in such warm way.

„Hi, little one, can you give me some answers?"

„I'll try my best!"

His voice was determined and looked up at Ichigo with his bright green eyes.

„Has Renji been here in my inner world, and do you have any idea why?"

„Well...he was... why...I can't explain..."

„Great... as if I don't have enough problems right now..."

Ichigo's inner world end

Sun greeted him when he opened his eyes again. He got up and collected the breakfast for Cabu and himself. Fruits again. But it was better than nothing. Ichigo did not know when he would have the chance to eat anything again. Plus he had no means of transportation for provisions, especially no canteen or bottle for water.

„Meow!!"

„Forget it, Cabu! Don't even think about moving! It took me many hours to heal your wounds!"

Ichigo stared at the tiny chimera shifting in its nest. It whined a little more but was silenced by a fruit which Ichigo stuffed in its mouth.

„We're going to continue the search today, but I will carry you."

Cabu meowed vaguely, chewing on the fruit. Ichigo sat down beside it and ate many fruits, too.

After finishing his breakfast Ichigo stepped to the lake and washed his hands and face. He returned and wound the bandages around himself again. The two days without the bandages had been great, but he needed them to cover him more effectively. At least the coat and the last bandage followed and he looked like the living coat again. Ichigo took Cabu and placed it on his head before he put on the hood.

„Make yourself comfortable, Cabu. I think it will be a long walk today."

Ichigo closed his eyes and concentrated first on his own reiatsu to make it invisible, then on the small hint of Zangetsu. In front of his inner eye he saw a red path. He opened his eyes again.

„Ready, Cabu?"

It meowed in response and Ichigo went ahead.

--

Renji could not believe it. It had been such a great dream. Ichigo had been alright. A bit scrawny but still alive. Renji unconsciously touched his lips. He had kissed his little strawberry. He could not even remember if Ichigo had kissed back. It had felt so real. Had it really been a dream? It had ended so suddenly. It was all Rukia's fault. She had kicked him out of bed. Hours before they had to wake up.

And why?

Because SHE could not sleep. She had had nightmares and had gone on patrol AND had forced HIM to company her. In the end they had only talked about the unknown dimensions and Ichigo.

He had preferred his dream. But he could not tell her. Never! He could not even imagine that conversation.

„_Hey Rukia, I think I'm gay!" Instead of the shock he had expected, he saw her eyes sparkling and her grin widening. She was probably the biggest fangirl of Soul Society. „Who is the lucky one?" - „It's Ichigo!" - „Oh..." - „What „oh"?" - „Well...you would never manage to get together by yourselves. Even if he returned your feelings... you both are too...dumb to sense the other's feelings or too damn __stubborn to do anything about them__..."_

_Yeah, that might be true…__ there are too many problems. He's still alive and I... well, I'm a shinigami fukutaichou. Plus I'm pretty sure that he's straight. Maybe he has a crush on Inoue or Rukia. Then there's still his overprotective father. Ichi is his only son. I don't think he would accept this kind of relationship that easily._

„I'm so doomed!" Renji sighed.

In his opinion that was only a very short summary of his emotional situation. But a really good one.

Tomorrow their turn in the living world would be over. Three more days to be added to the time Ichigo was lost. Then he had to do his job in the sixth division and probably help the research team in the huge library.

Every time he heard anything from Kon his sorrow grew. His condition in Ichigo's body was not the best at the moment, but at least it had not worsened. But nobody could tell how long his body would remain strong enough to stay alive without its soul. Kurosaki Isshin lost parts of his optimism with each passing day. And the twins... well, they missed their big brother badly.

Kon went to school, did his homework and even trained a bit but Ichigo's body did not regain its strength, although it did not become weaker anymore.

Renji glanced at the clock. He should sleep. Byakuya would not accept when he's falling asleep during work, in the worst case Kuchiki-taichou could simply remove him from KIRT.

--

It was grey again. Grey and black. What a change. Ichigo was not happy about this change back to the bland, grey surroundings of before. The lake was a better alternative. But Zangetsu would not come to the lake. He had to look elsewhere. But after a few days of black and grey he missed the peaceful place. Back in the grey he was more careful. Every few minutes he checked his reiatsu. He could hide it very well now, even in his sleep. In the morning he had been woken by the presence of a chimera in the distance of a hundred meters. Ichigo counted it as an improvement of his abilities. Hibana was busy too, explaining to him how to use his new-found powers. And the accident with Renji?

Well... he dealed with it...or better... he pushed it away. Every time Hibana breached this topic he changed it. Ichigo always repeated, that he did not have time to think about it. It had to wait until he returned home. He did not want to think about the meaning of Renji's visit and the kiss. Probably Renji thought it was only a dream and would deny that anything had happened. That way Ichigo couldn't do anything about their weird relationship. But he could continue forward. And he should really do that. It was his second day without food again and he was out of water. He really needed something to drink.

During his next break he shielded away his reiatsu, but at the same time he created an area around them in which he could sense everything. It was draining but necessary.

_Maybe I call water like I call the fire? That would be very helpful... well what did Hibana say? 'Feel the fire in yourself and around you - and call it to you. Focus it at the solar plexus. At the lower top of the sternum...' And if I can sense life, why not water too?_

Ichigo used the break and concentrated on water, imagining its sounds and looks. How it felt on his skin or in his dried throat.

He stopped his meditation. It was frustrating.

_Great, no water. Only now I'm so thirsty that I'm hallucinating..._

Because the only water he found was inside of him. Maybe the location was not that great for a rest.

Hoping to find water next day, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Cabu watched its depressed friend sadly and cuddled with him before it followed the shinigami into the world of sleep.

-- Ichigo's inner world--

Ichigo looked up at the cloudy sky.

„Even here it's too dry for rain..."

He could hear Hibana's voice arguing.

„It's not!"

„It is!"

„It's not!"

Ichigo blinked.

_Who is Hibana arguing with?_

The kid had to be near. His voice could be heard clearly. The other one, too. It sounded female and childish.

„It's not!"

„Is too!"

The shinigami did not need long to find his fire elementary. The red-haired boy stood near an open door. In the door frame stood a little girl with long blue hair and teal colored eyes. She wore a traditional kimono like Hibana. It was black with an obi in her hair color and the kimono had wave patterns on it.

„STOP!"

Both of them blinked and looked at Ichigo.

„Why are you arguing ?"

The two kids looked at each other and then back at him. Finally Hibana answered the question.

„I… can't remember…"

Hibana looked at the girl.

„..."

The girl nodded remorsefully.

„Oh…," Ichigo said with a doubtful glance at Hibana, "and you are?"

Ichigo shook his head and turned his attention to the other child that was still not leaving its place by the door.

The girl bowed deeply.

„My name is Amaya, your water elementary. I'm glad to meet you, onii-sama."

„Yeah, me too...water? And fire? In. One. Soul? And I thought my inner world was full when Hichigo and Zangetsu were here. By the way...isn't the door supposed to be closed until I find it myself?"

„It cracked open a little as you find water in yourself."

„... and...then behind you is my waterworld?"

„Yes! You can call water now and fire as well. But remember, when you call fire or water and there is no source like a river or something similar, you will call the fire or water from your body and energy. This is more draining than drawing energy from an outer source."

„...ooookaaayy...and what about kidou?"

„We elementaries provide only a special kind of kidou. Without spells you are not bound, that's why you can find us inside you."

„... but fire and water...aren't you total opposites?"

Hibana was not very happy about the attention that Ichigo spent on Amaya.

„You aren't bound to spells and you aren't bound to only one element."

„Please don't tell me there are more of you..."

-- chapter 8 end --

5


	9. No Time

A/N: Just as promised no three month until the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo

* * *

-- Chapter 9 – No time --

„_You aren't bound to spells and you aren't bound to only one element."_

„_Please don't tell me there are more of you..."_

He was right. After Amaya had appeared in his inner world Ichigo had directly searched for the other elements in himself.

And he had found them.

The door to Renji was still closed but he was having enough problems in his own world. Just perfect for keeping his thoughts occupied with other things than a certain red-haired shinigami. Ichigo had his own redhead in his world. Hibana his fire elementary - who was busy arguing with Amaya at the moment as it was their favourite hobby. They were definitely like fire and water. But after another argument between his resident elementaries that he had had to stop, he discovered that he also contained earth, air and ether.

Rubbing his temples he looked at the small elementary spirits before him. All of the elementaries were clad in traditional kimono with fitting elemental patterns and obi matching their hair colors.

There was Riku, his earth spirit. The hair of the boy was brown and short. He had dark-brown eyes. Next to him sat the air spirit Arashi. Ichigo thought the name was perfect for the green-haired boy. He really was the opposite of Riku. Riku was a bit lazy almost always exuded calmness. Arashi in contrast was like a storm. Rarely sitting still, always in action. But unlike water and fire they could get along with each other. Maybe because Riku was too lazy to be annoyed.

The last door Ichigo had found was the ether. Sora was probably older than the others and wanted to keep harmony between them all. Her hair was completely white and long. The symbol on her kimono looked like white wings.

Ichigo had learnt a lot about his elemental spirits in the past few days. First, every time water and fire started a discussion, Amaya would run to him whining about Hibana whenever she had lost. Secondly, he had to stop Hibana very often because he was a bit too carefree for his own good. Ichigo thanked heaven that the elements could not take over his body like his hollow had been able to.

And thirdly, he had learnt that he had to learn much. He did not understand why he out of all people hosted all elements and what their abilities were. He understood that using an element directly was more effective than the restrictive kidou spells. The elements were also supposed to be compatible with his sword attacks. But he could not test it, because having no zanpakutou meant no combi-attacks.

While catching Arashi the umpteenth time to prevent the hyperactive boy from falling he asked himself „Why me?" again and again. Ichigo felt himself reminded of all the times he had had to care for his little sisters. He missed them even more then.

Both girls of his elements had a keen sense for his feelings and loved to cuddle whenever he started to feel depressed. At the moment Sora was sitting in his lap cuddling with him and explaining the use of the elements. Amaya was clutching his shoulder, playing with his orange hair.

„Yeah, I understand. Hibana is also called _ka_. I have to concentrate on my solar plexus because it's his residence. Hibana's fighting style is determined and aggressive."

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flustered Amaya and continued quickly to list all of his elements.

They were lovely little kids but they all demanded Ichigo's attention.

„Amaya is water, called: _sui,_ residing in the lower abdominal cavity. Style: defense, strategy, dodging. Riku represents earth. Called: _chi_. Resides at the base of the spine. Grants a stable position and enables one to withstand attacks.

Arashi, air, _fu. _Residence: centre of thorax. Style: defensive, protective. And Sora, as the ether you allow me to switch between the elements but you don't fight yourself. Your residence is my throat. Anything else?"

The five shook their heads and Arashi used the opportunity to dance around.

„Fine. Don't mess up my inner world while I'm gone."

Ichigo patted the heads of Sora and Amaya and disappeared.

„Well, he knows the basics now. Let's see how he can put theory into practice."

„Practice is not all of it, is it? There is still a closed door!" Hibana pointed at the door with the mahogany tree on it.

„We can't do anything about this. They were interrupted during their first mind-kiss and they haven't confessed their feelings. I think they still believe that it was a dream, whatever they might say about it. The door will probably stay closed until they meet each other again." Sora explained sadly. The connection to Renji would have been great for Ichigo in his currently lonely and depressing state.

-- Ichigo's inner world end --

„Meow?"

Cabu looked at Ichigo and tilted its head making it look like it was hovering lopsidedly in the air. It had drawn its tiny legs and head nearer to its body completing the image of a flying ball of fur.

„I'm fine, Cabu. Let's walk for a few hours more before the light is completely gone."

The last days he had used his rare breaks to look for his elementaries or water to drink. Thanks to Amaya he had found water every day, so he didn't have to be afraid of dehydration anymore. But food was rare and he got little to no sleep.

In this area the chimera were numerous. Well, it was good for his practice lessons, but if he could not recover properly he was bound to collapse some time soon. Plus the training with his elementaries was draining.

In the end he could only walk for an hour. He searched for a hideout near a water hole. Suppressing his reiatsu Ichigo lay down in the hollow tree trunk that he had covered with equally black leaves. Cabu landed and cuddled up to his chest. Ignoring the gnawing ache in his stomach Ichigo closed his eyes, hoping to get more sleep than two or three hours.

--

Renji was back on duty in the real world. There was still no sign of the lost substitute shinigami. He looked at Kon. The modsoul did his best to keep Ichigo's body healthy. He did his homework with Ishida and Orihime, using the breaks between the dimension jumps. Renji could tell that Kon was annoyed by the never-ending questions about his health. The body in which he was stuck became thinner and definitely didn't look healthy. But at least he could still move. Unohana-taichou had assured them that the connection between body and soul still existed. She checked him herself every second day now. Even Hanatarou and Isane had been called to perform check-ups twice a day.

„Kurosaki-san has to return very soon. We can't say how long his body will survive without his soul."

Renji did not like these words. Isane was reporting to Soul Society at the moment. Ukitake could be seen on the huge screen. Urahara hated it, because it stood in his living room. It gave him one more reason to find Ichigo as soon as possible. The sooner Ichigo returned the earlier the screen disappeared.

„Kyouraku-taichou found alarming information in the library today. You have to be very careful. There's a very powerful creature with the ability of traveling to other dimensions. They are called „hell lords" and seem to be human but their black coats are hollow. Every encounter with a hell lord ended deadly so far. It seems that their most powerful attack is the so-called „embrace of death". The few eyewitnesses reported the hell lords to only raise both arms for the attack and their victim would drop dead. Here is a picture of this creature."

Ukitake disappeared from the screen and the present shinigami could see the picture. It showed a human figure clothed in a long, black and hooded coat. The cloak reached to the ground and under the hood...there seemed to be nothing but darkness.

„We promise to be careful, Ukitake-taichou. But we have to go now."

Team two readied themselves for their turn.

„Oi Rukia! Found anything?" Renji greeted the short girl as the first group came through the portal.

„It was a really nice place. A lot of plants and harmless animals. But the gras was red, the trees blue and the bunnies were pink."

"There had to be bunnies of course…" Renji mused knowing how fond Rukia was of the little furry animals.

„Don't forget the green fox. It was really strange there. But still no sign of Kurosaki."

„You didn't bring one of the bunnies with you, did you?" The redhead eyed her suspiciously ignoring Yumichika's interjection.

„No..." Rukia was obviously regretting that decision now.

„Is team two ready to go?"

Urahara shouted from the controls of his udp.

„We're on the way! See you, Rukia."

After a few moments their eyes had adapted to the lighting conditions. The dimension was completely gray and black. Renji stared at the landscape. It reminded him of a dream of Ichigo. Hadn't one of the first dreams taken place in a similar environment?

Although the darkness was depressing it gave him hope. He - and with him the whole team - reached out with their senses to find Ichigo.

„Wow, some really strong creatures are living here."

„Any sign of Ichigo?"

„No, Kurosaki's reiatsu would be easy to make out. But here is no shinigami except us."

„What if his reiatsu is too weak?"

„That could be a problem. Kurosaki might have had to fight a lot here."

Renji's heart sank. Ichigo had to be here. It was the same dimension as in his dream. If Ichigo had died... it might be his fault. Maybe he would never see his dreams come true. He...

„_Hey, don't be so gloomy. We'll find him."_

„You can't beat Kurosaki that easily."

Within a few seconds the remaining light had gone and it had become even darker. Huge clouds were covering the gray sky. It started to rain. Now it was as dark as night.

„Let's walk a few miles!" Hitsugaya commanded and headed forward. The group passed tall black trees, gray bushes and dark-gray gras. Renji had never thought that there might be that many different shades of gray.

„Be careful! I don't want to attract one of these powerful creatures!"

„Wouldn't Kurosaki also be gray if he stayed here the whole time?" joked Yumichika dryly.

The image of a gray Ichigo was amusing and even Renji had to chuckle lightly.

„_He was grayish in your „dream", wasn't he?" Zabimaru asked._

_Do you think he could be here?_

„_No idea. I can sense neither Zangetsu nor Ichigo."_

_Maybe he has finally learned to __hide his presence properly?_

„_With his amount of reiatsu? That would be nearly impossible to hide completely. At least without any experience and the right technique."_

_And if he's weak and far away from where we are?_

„_That's possible but there's no guarantee."_

„There are few sources of food and little water. If Kurosaki-san is or was here that would explain his current condition." Isane evaluated the data from the scanner.

„But none of us can sense him." Ishida argued.

„Sadly."

Hitsugaya stopped.

„Something wrong, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

The white-haired captain shook his head.

„For a moment I thought there was a faint trace.."

His musings were interrupted by the shrill tone of the communicator.

„Hey there, the data is complete. Return before you are noticed by one of these giant creatures over there." They heard Urahara say. Ishida gulped.

„Like this one?"

The others turned around, facing a huge chimera. It was pitch black (what else?) and tall as an apartment house. Its claws were sharp and long. It had the body of a dragon. Three heads with sharp, arm-long teeth looking like poisonous snakes.

„We were asking for this, weren't we?" Renji muttered under his breath. He dodged as one of the heads dashed forward. The teeth left angry marks in the stone.

Drawing Zabimaru, Renji attacked the long throat in a fluid movement. But his blade bounced of the hard scales. So did Ishida's arrow and Yumichika's zanpakutou.

„What the hell?!"

The three shinigami fought against the giant heads while Isane stayed out of their way. After realizing his arrows were having no effect the Quincy let them fight.

By dodging and splitting up the three fighters succeeded confusing the chimera. Together they finished the fight with a combination of zanpakutou attacks and kidou.

„It's a good thing that Kurosaki isn't here. "

Yumichika stated, looking up into the apprehensive eyes of his companions.

„Let's return. The first group is waiting..."

Quietly they walked back to the portal. Their senses still on alarm, but without much hope to find a hint to Kurosaki's whereabouts. Ichigo was not here.

Renji stopped in front of the portal and looked back.

_I was so sure that this was the right dimension..._

Isane was the first to pass through the portal. The men that had remained behind stared at each other before they entered the portal together.

In the same moment a well-known reiatsu flared up.

„NOOOOOOO!!"

„Damnit!"

--

A few moments earlier somewhere else Ichigo had rolled out of his hideout, avoiding to be smashed.

He blinked. What had just happened? He was not completely awake. He was wet. The drizzling rain explained the wetness. But why had he moved?

„GROOOOAAAARRRRR"

Ichigo was wide awake immediately. He dodged a paw. He blinked again.

„Did anyone tell you how ugly you are?" Ichigo muttered, jumping to his feet. The chimera in front of him was half dinosaur half king kong. At least it was tall like them. The shinigami could not make out too much. The giant paws extended claws as long as trees.

„Shit..."

_Hibana wake up, there's work to do!_

Ichigo concentrated on his solar plexus and summoned a giant fireball. It hit the monster between its oversized fisheyes.

„STRIKE!!"

„GRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

The chimera boiled with rage. The fireball had had no effect. It dashed forward to Ichigo.

_Stay calm, Ichigo... there are four elements left. Amaya your turn._

With his thoughts he created an ice-arrow and shot.

A scream of pain followed.

But not from the chimera. Ichigo had not been able to completely dodge the claw aimed at him. Blood dripped from his right side.

„_Onii-sama. Elements don't work. Try a non-elemental attack." Sora suggested._

Without a reply Ichigo shoved his thoughts about the elements away. Trying to concentrate on his first attempts, he formed a simple but powerful energy beam. It hit its goal.

But still no effect.

„_Er...Run?" Arashi suggested._

Ichigo did not need to be told twice. Using shunpo he left as fast as his tired mind let him.

Bad luck. The chimera punched him into the ground. It could follow his fast moves.

He lay dizzily on the crumbled earth. Ichigo lifted his head. To his left lay an overthrown tree. Behind him was a mountain. He had been trapped in a small gorge without any way out. In front of him... was the wannabe King Kong.

His eyes went wide as the chimera extended all claws... ten at each paw to be precise.

It swung one of six paws towards the caught boy.

In his panic Ichigo crossed his arms over his head and closed his eyes...

A dull thud sounded in his ears.

He had formed a shield unknowingly. Tentatively he opened his eyes again. The shield remained.

The chimera was hitting it alternating between four of its paws. With each blow Ichigo was forced more and more against the wall behind him. The young shinigami poured more energy into his shield.

He was caught. He could not keep up his protective shield for ages. He lost strength with every hit.

Suddenly an unknown female voice piped up in his mind.

„_Hey, Ichi. We have no time to play around."_

-- chapter 9 end --

5


	10. Of Sunflowers and Confusion

Thanks for the reviews

-- Chapter 10 – Of Sunflowers and Confusion --

„_Hey, Ichi. We have no time to play around."_

„Wha...?"

Ichigo blinked. He could not recognize the voice.

„_Take hold of the second red string."_

_Wait a second?_

Before his inner eye he saw the red string leading him to Zangetsu. He stared at it. One string became two. Puzzled Ichigo picked up the other string that belonged to an unknown presence.

„_That's it, Ichi!"_

The youth felt a familiar weight in his hands. The blade settling into his hands was of the same size as Zangetsu but had a different shape. Two very long ribbons emanated from the hilt, almost glowing colorful in blue and orange. It composed a sharp contrast to the gray and black of the dimension. The blade itself was light-silver and maybe as long as Ichigo was tall. It was sharp on both sides. Like a Roman gladius.

„_Fight! Let's save explanations for later!"_

His eyes shot open and fixed on the chimera in front of him.

„My turn, you King Kong-wannabe!"

Ichigo jumped forward, dodging another punch of the ugly beast. His new blade vibrated happily. It was perfectly balanced. He countered the attacking claw. He wielded the sword with both hands.

„Here we go!"

Ichigo shouted and attacked.

A cry of pain echoed through the black night. And it was not Ichigo's.

A long and deep cut now graced the paw. Ichigo smirked.

„Farewell!"

He dashed forward. With one powerful stroke he sliced the chimera. Blood covered everything. Black and slimy blood. Ichigo panted heavily. He had exhausted both his body and his reiatsu. He sank down to his knees, the sword still in a tight grip.

„Meow?"

„Yes, Cabu. It's over."

„Meow?"

„Yeah, I'm fine."

„Meow meow?"

„If you can find something to eat, that would be very helpful."

„Meow!"

Ichigo blinked as Cabu crawled out from under his hood and flew away.

_Did I just understand what it wanted to tell me?_

He straightened and left the corpse of the beast behind him. He didn't come too far. Using the first opportunity he collapsed against a tree and closed his eyes.

-- Ichigo's Inner World --

„ICHI!"

Ichigo was attacked by a blur of white and gold.

„My poor Ichi!!"

He could not move. He saw only white. He felt someone stroking his hair. Ichigo was stunned. He could not comprehend what was happening. The presence was cuddling with him. Although he had no idea what was going on, the touches were comforting and soothing.

„Er..."

The person chuckled and let go of him.

„Sorry, Ichi. Couldn't help it."

In front of him stood a beautiful woman. She was a little bit taller than him. Bright blue eyes, glowing like gemstones, were staring at him. She had long slightly curled hair. Colorful ribbons were weaved through the golden-blond strands. They were similar to the orange and blue ribbons of the sword. Her fighting gear was snow-white. She wore white, knee-length boots. Patiently she waited for Ichigo to finally acknowledge her. She smiled at him warmly.

„Like what you see, Ichi?"

She winked. Ichigo blushed, a deep red that would have made any tomato jealous.

„S-sorry... but who are you?"

She glomped him again.

„Isn't it obvious? Your second zanpakutou!"

„My second...?"

The woman chuckled again. She started to stroke his hair. Ichigo was too shocked to do anything against it.

„I'm not patient as Zangetsu, so I'll make it short. My name is Himawari. You can release my shikai form with „Himawari shine!" Do you get it?"

Ichigo was stunned, still letting her cuddle him. She smiled again.

„What do you think? Ready to go to find my counterpart?"

„...I guess...?"

„Very well. You go and sleep!"

She was still smiling. Ichigo was overwhelmed. He shook his head and left his inner world.

„Do you think that was wise?" Sora asked quietly.

The five elementaries were greeting the female zanpakutou.

„Don't you think it would be better to explain everything in more detail and answer his questions instead of just bombarding him with only the most important facts?"

„He will survive! Right now he needs his sleep!"

„..."

„..."

„..."

„..."

„... poor onii-sama..."

-- Inner World End --

Renji stared at the portal. Pleading silently that it was not Ichigo's reiatsu that he had felt. The others of his team cursed loudly.

„We must go back!"

„What's up?"

„Well, we have good news and bad news..."

„Good news first, please. We have had enough bad news lately."

„Kurosaki is alive!"

„Hey, that's great news, but why..."

„In the second we left, we could feel his reiatsu."

„But the udp can connect to a dimension only once."

„We can't get back?"

Renji did not pay attention to the chaos behind him. He was still staring at the portal. Slowly he realized that the discussion around him only served to strengthen his fears. Ichigo was in that gray dimension. It had been his reiatsu...

„Urahara, is there any chance that you can modify the dimension portal?"

„Well.. now that I have the data... but it could take a while."

„We don't have that much time! Ichi-nii doesn't have the time. It's only a matter of days until his body will be too weak to even move." Karin interrupted the discussion harshly.

The twins had been visiting the rescue team. Yuzu had even cooked a few snacks for the team. The blond twin sobbed.

„Hey, don't cry. Your big brother is still alive. So there's still hope and we now know his location."

Kira tried to calm her down, not giving up hope himself.

„Try to think positively: We don't have to visit more dimensions now. All of you can return to your duties and I'll call you when the udp is modified."

„There is nothing we can do? Only waiting?"

Nobody liked this thought. But they could not change the facts. Currently the udp could only connect to a dimension once. Never twice.

„Ichi-nii. Don't give up!" Yuzu whispered, glancing at the dimension portal.

-.-.-

„Meow meow trill?"

Ichigo blinked. His eyes fluttered open. He groaned.

„No, Cabu. I'm not mad that you woke me up. Could you find anything edible?"

„Meow!"

Cabu landed on Ichigo's stomach, uncurling its legs and tail. It threw a few tiny fruits to him and meowed sadly.

„Don't be sad, fluffy. This is better than nothing. Good thing that you don't need that much to eat."

He sat up. The teen looked at the fruits. They seemed to be some kind of small apples. They ate the fruits silently. The boy took his time with his food. He swallowed the last bite and used his elemental powers to call for some water. Cabu drank a bit as did Ichigo. The little creature yawned and curled up on Ichigo's lap. Its wings folded. It looked like a black ball of fur again.

„Sorry, Cabu. We need to seize the da..."

-- Ichigo's Inner World --

„Don't even think of it!"

Ichigo stared at the angry zanpakutou. Himawari was not pleased. That much was obvious.

„You'll try to get more sleep. NOW! Don't suppress your reiatsu all the time, it isn't healthy and you are weak enough!"

Ichigo blinked still not used to his new zanpakutou.

„Yes, ma'am?" He tried tentatively. Suddenly she smiled again.

„My sweet Ichi! Honestly, you should care for yourself more."

Any response was prevented by another crushing cuddle-attack.

„You have enough problems, you should not add any more."

She sat down, pulling the boy down with her to the ground. She kept him in a soft embrace.

„Do you have to cuddle me every freakin' time we meet?" Ichigo asked resignedly. Himawari giggled in answer.

„But she's right, onii-sama!"

Ichigo raised his head. In front of him stood all of his elemental spirits.

„Why do I have the feeling that this will get out of hand into group-cuddling?"

„Are we allowed to do so, onii-sama?"

His water ghost Amaya looked eager, while the other girl of his elementaries Sora looked shyly to the ground. Ichigo sighed and spread his arms as far as Himawari's hug him allowed. Immediately his arms were full of elementaries.

„Uff..."

„When will this torture be over, onii-sama?"

Ichigo needed a moment to locate the speaker. It was Riku, who was sitting on his left side.

„I hope soon, Riku. I think Zangetsu isn't far away anymore. The trace becomes clearer with every step."

„And then we can go home?"

Ichigo nodded.

„And what are you going to do about the closed door over here, Ichi?"

The teen grimaced. Himawari ruffled his hair.

„Just kidding. That's a problem for tomorrow. Time to sleep, my sweet Ichi."

-- Inner World End --

In his dream he felt a familiar presence. Like a memory of better times. Like an embrace. Like a kiss. Red strands and black ink lulled him into his sleep, accompanied by a soft voice and gentle touches. Not real. Not there. Nothing more than memories of a dream fading away into the darkness of sleep.

-.-.-.-

He could not sleep. Whatever he tried it didn't work.

Meditation – nope.

Warm milk? No success. Maybe he should not have drunk the whole bottle.

Valerian? Didn't work.

Breathing practices. No.

He tried practicing until he was completely exhausted.

His body was numb as was his mind. But he could not sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ichigo, the gray world and the huge chimeras. A dimension without enough food and water to keep someone healthy. It was a dangerous dimension. Too many monsters. The green grassland with the lake had to be one of his dreams. There was no way that such an oasis could exist in the gray and black world. Which meant that the earliest of his dreams might be true. The dreams about the shadows, the pain, the darkness. Renji closed his eyes, remembering the teen without his zanpakutou.

_Please tell me that was only a bad dream._

„_Either you reduce all of your past dreams to dreams or you accept them all as reality. What are you going to do? Deny Ichigo or deny the possible danger?"_

Renji grimaced and got to his feet. Zabimaru was no help sometimes. He walked through the dark house. It was almost frightening how familiar Urahara's shop had become. His target was the liquor cabinet in the living room.

_Maybe one ..._

„Oi, Renji. What are you doing?"

The light was switched on. Renji jumped slightly in surprise and turned around.

„Rukia...you're still here?"

„Couldn't sleep, so I went on patrol. Slow night, not one little hollow out there..."

She looked at him thoughtfully.

„And you?"

Renji grimaced.

„Same as you. Sleepless night..."

„Want a drink?"

Rukia held up two glasses and a bottle. He barely saw the thin smirk.

„You can read minds, can't you?"

-.-.-

It was still dark. Rain poured out of giant black clouds. Ichigo was only a bit surprised that he could already tell the different shades of black and gray apart. But he was drenched with rain by now. Depressed, he mused if he would ever become dry again. It was not a nice feeling to wake up completely soaked. He stared up into the sky. Rain dripped into his eyes.

Slowly he pushed himself up. He faltered.

_Damn..._

His vision was blurry. That was definitively not a good sign.

„Meow? Meow?"

Cabu nuzzled his chin. Even the little creature was wet although it had stayed under his hood all the time.

„It'll do...Don't worry. I can keep walking... I think..."

He stopped dead in his tracks.

He blinked.

He blinked again.

Something was missing.

He looked to the right. Nothing.

He looked to the left. Nothing.

He looked onto the ground. Nothing.

He reached to his back. NOTHING.

_HIMAWARI!!_

„_Hey Ichi! Don't panic! I'll be there if you need me. Calm down. You don't need to add a heart attack to your fever."_

_But where...how...?_

„_Relax! You can't keep up your appearances, carrying me on your back. Think yourself as my scabbard."_

_Scabbard..._

„_Yup!"_

_I can see ghosts. Became a fucking shinigami with an oversized zanpakutou even got a hollow inside of me. Lost the latter. Got elementaries and a second zanpakutou. And now I'm a freaking scabbard for you? How could I survive this shit?_

„_You're doing a pretty good job so far. But I don't think that you'll be able to keep this up if you don't move finally. Your time is getting short. You need rest, food, warmth and your body."_

Ichigo sighed and straightened. Cabu nuzzled him again. Absently he patted the fist sized chimera.

He headed forward. His red string leading him. He used his reiatsu to ignore the effects of the fever.

„_Your reiatsu won't be able to sustain you forever, Ichi."_

_I know, Himawari. I know..._

-.-.-.-

Rukia eyed Renji, thinking over her next steps. She had drunk only a bit of the two bottles and had given the most to Renji. He was awfully quiet. The redhead stared depressively into his glass. She decided it was time for the last move.

„There's been something wrong with you for quite some time now. Spill it Renji, this is about Ichigo isn't it? You're missing him a lot more than you're willing to let on."

Rukia had expect denial. Anger. Even horror and confusion. But Renji... --tock--

He put his head on the table, missing his glas only by a couple of millimeters.

„Ren..."

„I saw him, Rukia. I knew how the dimension looks like. I already knew where he was. All the time."

„Renji, you're talking nonsense. There's no way you could have known..."

„I dreamt of him... nearly every night...the darkness...the chimera. Rukia, I saw him. How he fought against huge shings... Without...zan...zangessu..."

He stopped and Rukia waited for him to continue.

„Renji?"

A snore was the response. She sighed deeply. This was more complicated as supposed. But Renji did not affirm her suspicion neither did he negate it.

„You fool..."

-.-.-

Rukia had just left the living room when the light was switched on... in the adjoining room. Two shadows sitting on opposite ends of the table could be seen. They were drinking tea.

„My my, isn't this interesting, old friend?"

„Indeed. A lot of problems are waiting for Ichigo here. Not to mention the ones he already has. Perhaps the dreams are keeping him sane in the loneliness."

„Or he doesn't trust them. Do you know what this means for them?"

„Yes, I know. But I doubt Abarai would know, it's very rare. And Ichigo never had the chance to learn these things."

„That means we have to make plans?"

„A lot of plans."

„Would you prefer to borrow the book?"

„Sure. If needs be, I could throw it at his head."

A chuckle.

„ Poor freeloader-san...How will the rest of your family react?"

„I think Yuzu and Karin will be fine with it. I wish Masaki could witness this. She would be happy and sad at the same time..."

„We'll rescue him. We'll make it."

„I hope so...or else we will lose these two."

-- Chapter 10 end --

.

**Mysticarchangel**: I just opened up my forum, if you want to know more about the future of df, please take a look and tell me what you think about the possible ending for this story.

http /www. fanfiction .net/myforums/Mysticerzengel/1294758/

Of course without spaces.

And you can find a link to a picture of Himawari in my user profile. I'm not that good with drawings but I had fun making this.


	11. Time for the cavalry

**A/N: ** I've put up a poll in my author's profile. Please take a look and let me know what you think on how Destined Fate should end!

I would really like to see your opinions for a possible sequel.

Thank you for the nice reviews and special thanks to The Hollow Inside for the post in my forum and the two of you who have already found my poll.

-- Chapter 11 –Time for the cavalry --

_The fire crackled in the fireplace. It covered the place in warm light. Shadows were playing on the figure in his arms. He held the person close to him, adding his warmth to the heat of the fire. Ichigo needed the warmth and he knew it. One arm curled around the waist of the younger one, his other around his shoulders, drawing innocent patterns on shoulders and neck. Renji felt Ichigo leaning against him, snuggling. He burrowed his nose in soft orange hair, taking in the smell._

_-.-.-_

Slowly Renji opened his eyes...and wished he had not done it. Sleep had been so peaceful, but waking up was terrible. Absolutely horrible! The throbbing pain in his head told him something was not right. He tried to focus his mind.

First, where was he? Second, what was the last he could remember? Third...what could he do to stop the pain?

The first was not as easy as it sounded. Well, he lay on a futon. But he did not remember why. He had gone to bed the night before and could not sleep. He had gotten up and had met Rukia in the living room of Urahara's house. Ah...that must mean he was still at Urahara's.

„_Oi Renji, not that I want to complain. It's really nice to take me along when you visit Ichigo. But do you have to drag me with you into your drunken dreams, too?"_

Drunken dreams? Ah...

He remembered he had drunk with Rukia... She had asked him something about Ichigo, hadn't she?

_Damn!! Zabimaru what did I answer?_

„_You confessed your undying love for your little strawberry!"_

Renji paled immediately.

_I did WHAT?!_

There was no way he had done this. Not to Rukia. He could not have told her. If she knew... he would be dead. She would tease him to death. Wait, he was a shinigami. That meant he was not alive anymore in the normal sense of the word. Ok.. It would be the end of his existence. She might tell his taichou. Their friends. Urahara. Everyone... and... Isshin... oh he was so dead...

„_Oi Renji. Remember how to breathe! Ok, I was just kiddin'. You didn't tell her that you love him. Geez, calm down already. BREATHE!"_

Renji's red face slowly returned to its normal color with every breath he took. Belatedly he realized that he had been holding his breath for a while.

_What did I tell her?_

„_Find it out yourself."_

_Useful as ever._

Renji got up and strolled into the bathroom. Tossing his clothes away, he got into the shower and let himself get soaked with warm water. The warmth flooded his body immediately. It was soothing and made the pain in his head lessen. It reminded him of his dream. The warmth. The comfort. The young shinigami in his arms. He could almost feel Ichigo's hands combing through his hair. Ichigo had liked to play with his hair in that dream. Entranced with the long strands and the black lines of his tattoos. Renji had let him follow the lines with his fingers as far as he could have reach them in their position in front of the fireplace. It had been such a nice dream.

Dream...

Dreams...

What was it about dreams anyway? He had had a lot of dreams lately. Mostly about Ichigo in this dangerous dimension...

_SHIT!_

„_Ah, you finally realized what you have told her?"_

And the memories were back.

„Che... she had planned on that, hadn't she?"

-.-.-

It became hard to move forward, but he kept himself up as best as he could. He felt the power that his elementaries were giving him. He could ignore the fever with it. Ichigo knew he could not afford to lose time. He was near. He could feel it. He could see the red string which led him to Zangetsu clearly in front of him. Well, it was the only thing he could still see clearly. His vision was blurring from time to time and he had to pause. Cabu repeated a worried meow every time.

„He's near. I can feel him... soon, very soon..."

Ichigo muttered into his non-existent beard. His words were soon followed by a „meow".

BANG!!

A loud crack. Dust.

Ichigo knelt on the ground. His coat was covered with dirt.

„_Wow, amazing reflexes, Ichi."_

_What...?_

Rocks crumbled. The dust settled down.

Ichigo stared at the point where he had been walking only seconds before. Clearly and sweetly a melody sounded through the darkness. It was beautiful. The new chimera in front of him was tall but slim. The elegant figure was deep black. It had human arms like wings. Long black feathers were topped with white. Delicate human legs ended in sharp claws that were forced into the ground. The chimera was singing. Its voice was incredibly rich and nice. The face wasn't human. Ichigo could not classify the species but it was graceful. Long ears were raised proudly. Deep brown eyes stared at him. It didn't stop singing. He could not move. He did not want to move. Such beautiful eyes. Such a nice voice.

But the chimera moved. Slowly. Her movements were only minimal.

„_What are you doing?! Fight already!"_

_What?_

„_Stupid MEN!"_

Ichigo blinked. The amazing creature in front of him was only a few steps away. It exposed its fangs.

_A vampire!_

Finally his reflexes kicked in. He jumped away. Within a second his zanpakutou was in his hands.

„_That was about time, Ichi!"_

He took the sword in both hands. Ready to strike.

_Yeah... sorry. Let's fight._

„_Yeah sure, but use only your left hand!"_

_What?! Are you crazy? You're heavy!_

„_NEVER tell a lady that she's heavy! You have to train your left. Your right hand is for Zangetsu, your left for me, got it?"_

Ichigo mumbled something inaudible, but took her in his left hand. Again ready to strike. The voice stopped. The chimera grimaced. Its fangs glinted in the darkness. Ichigo jumped forward, brandishing his oversized zanpakutou.

The chimera simply flew higher. Out of his reach. Dashing down, it spread its claws. Ichigo dodged easily. Both chimera and boy danced around each other. Attack and dodge. It was clever enough to keep itself away from the blade.

Ichigo knew that he couldn't do anything against the chimera's strategy of constant attacks broken by the short times it readied itself for another swoop at him. Even if he tried to counter its swoop directly, it would just ram him into the ground. He knew, he did not have the strength for a fight relying on brute force these days**.**

„_Ichi, that doesn't work. Release my shikai form!"_

_Shikai?_

Ichigo had to dodge again. He jumped back.

_I thought you already were in your shikai. Like Zangetsu!_

„_Ichi, how would that look like? An oversized kitchen knife and a little tooth pick."_

Ichigo shook his head. Asking himself why he could not achieve anything in normal ways.

„SHINE HIMAWARI!"

His zanpakutou began to glow and change its form. The blade got thinner and longer. The hilt became golden. A few scales reached over to the blade. A blue dragon eye shone brightly. Right under the eye a part of the blade returned and formed a crook. The hilt ended in a long golden tail which curled around Ichigo's waist a few times.

„Wow..."

„_Amazing, isn't it?" Himawari sounded very proud._

„... you really like to hug me, don't you?..." He looked down on his waist, where the long tail curled around him like a belt.

If Himawari could have done it, she would have hit him.

„_You're lucky that I don't take you too seriously with your fever! Analyse and fight!"_

_Analyse?_

On instinct Ichigo raised the surprisingly light sword up in front of his eyes.

„ANALYSE!"

The blue eye glowed, sending data directly to his mind. Uninteresting things like height, weight and looks. Already known facts like its ability to fly and its singing. But it also covered important things like possible weaknesses. The chimera was attracted to his blood. He reeked of blood, although it was not fresh. Old and dry was the blood on his coat and bandages.

„_You can fight with me led only by your mind, Ichi. Concentrate and I could fight alone as long as my tail is touching you."_

„With my mind..." He repeated absently.

Meanwhile the chimera got over its shock. The transformation had made it freeze for a second or two. But now it started another attack and shot to the ground.

Ichigo jumped, hardly dodging its claws. But he was not fast enough. The claw hit his arm. Ichigo let go of the hilt. The tail grew and hovered in the air. The eye was still glowing. Ichigo's brown eyes were overlaid with a constant blue gleam.

Blood dripped out of his wound, driving the chimera wild.

„_Onii-sama, how could you be so incautious?" _Hibana cried in his mind. The elementaries were busy with keeping up his energy. Cabu cheeped worriedly and furiously at the same time, burying itself deeper under his hood.

The vampire-sirene chimera licked its teeth. Dashing down, it cried a triumphant song. In its mind only the smell of fresh and red blood.

„I have a crow to pick with this birdie!"

He grinned and ignored the screams of his elementaries. He watched the chimera dashing down onto him.

He waited.

It gained more speed.

He still waited.

Only a few meters left.

„_ONII-SAMA!!"_

„HIMAWARI NOW!!"

He jerked at the tail. The blade shot down.

One meter.

Blood splattered. A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the night.

Ichigo sank to the ground covered in blood and buried under a vampire-bird-sirene chimera.

„_Ichi...don't dare to do something like this again!"_

He had caught it flat-footed in its back. But he had been occupied with directing Himawari and too distracted to dodge the last attack.

„This is disgusting..."

„_It's your own fault. You should have avoided that tackle."_

„_Onii-sama, you're cruel! How could you frighten us!"_

„_Would you be so kind as to let us in on your plans next time, onii-sama?"_

„MEOW!"

Ichigo could have sworn that Cabu could hear the comments of his inner world's occupants. Again it sounded like it wanted to agree with them.

Ichigo chuckled faintly.

„Sorry guys... I thought you would know about it, with being a part of my mind and so on.."

„_You have to practice. Your technique is quite.. well rough and plain. You shouldn't have jerked at my hilt like you did."_

„_Er... onii-sama?... How long are you planning to stay this way? You're already drenched!"_

And he was. The chimera lay dead on his torso, black blood seeping, still impaled by his zanpakutou.

And the **stench **was unbelievable!

„Ugh...!"

-.-.-

„Come again?" Renji asked hopefully.

Urahara looked at the only two remaining shinigami in Karakura who sat there on the couch in his living room.

„My, my. I think you heard me quite well. I said gather all volunteers who aren't on duty. My dimension-portal is modified. You have an hour to get here."

Renji pricked up his ears as Urahara had told Rukia.

„Oi, Renji, hurry up. Help me to get them!"

Rukia rushed out of the living room, her mobile in her hand already.

„You'll call the 11th division and I'll call the others. Let's try to get Inoue and the ohters out of school."

„Don't forget to get specialists of sensing reiatsu. Kurosaki-san's reiatsu should be low." Urahara shouted after her. Renji nodded instead of her and followed.

They could get the half of the KIRT (Kurosaki-Ichigo-Rescue-Team)within the hour. Now they were waiting of course for Renji and Rukia. Ikkaku already sat against the house wall as they returned to the shop. Yumichika was next to him on a bench. Their taichou and fukotaichou were on duty or they got lost on their way, who knows. Matsumoto arrived a moment later with Isane in tow.

„Is everyone there? Good, then..." Urahara rubbed his hands.

„Wait! Where are the humans?" Ikkaku interrupted Urahara.

„Their class is preparing a school project. We couldn't inform them secretly."

„They won't be thrilled when they find out."

„They'll forgive us if we bring Kurosaki back home. Everyone ready?"

Urahara stepped over to the machine that he was rightfully proud of. The modified udp. Nobody could have done the modifications this fast.

He activated it and entered some data.

„You're sure that it'll lead us to the right dimension?"

Urahara did not seem to have heard the question.

„Have fun, guys and don't get caught by Hellords."

With these words he ushered the team through the portal.

„Hellords?"

Matsumoto asked Yumichika who walked behind her.

„Ah, you weren't there when Ukitake-taichou informed us. Guys in black coats with a deathly hug. They simply raise their arms and you drop dead supposedly."

„Sounds like some friendly guys."

The portal glowed blueish-white and swallowed the group.

-.-

„Ta da da daa, Ichigo hang in there. It's time for the cavalry!"

Ikkaku shouted as soon as his feet touched the ground of the other dimension. It was dusky, but soon the dimness was replaced by the light of a rising sun. Wait... sun?

„Er...where are we?"

Disoriented, the rescue team looked around.

It wasn't all black and dark. The only gray was shooed away by the sun. A bright green grassland greeted them. In the distance they could see a few trees. Small birds were flying over them.

„ARGH, the idiot with the hat'n clogs sent us to the wrong dimension."

Renji shouted angrily using Ichigo's favorite term for Urahara.

In this peaceful landscape there was no enemy. No chimeras. And not a sign of Kurosaki Ichigo.

-.-.-

Meanwhile said person was back on his feet. Ichigo had cleaned himself by calling some water, but some of the blood and grime was still sticking to him. He had reached a mountain pass. It was small and narrow. Sometimes the mountain reached over his head on both sides. More often than not there was no path to follow and he had to climb.

„_Onii-sama? Are you sure you took the correct way?"_

_Yes, I am... I can...still see the red ... the red string..._

He had to pause, leaning against the wall as he stopped long enough to catch his breath.

„Have...to...move..."

Ichigo felt Cabu nuzzling his neck. It changed positions every few minutes.

„Meow, meow?"

„What's up, Cabu? Did you sense something?"

Ichigo asked tiredly and listened to the quiet response of the small chimera.

„Ah...I see... okay, you can fly ahead...but ...be careful."

Cabu crawled from his hood and flew ahead. Ichigo nodded when it stopped midair with a questioning look in its eyes.

_He's close. I can sense him._

The end of the way came unexpectedly. He lost his hold on the wall that he had used for support and stumbled forward. With tired eyes Ichigo looked up.

He let himself fall on his butt.

He stared at the image in front of him with disbelief. And then... he started to chuckle quietly.

A huge crystal stood only few steps away. Blood-red and glowing. In it he could see something very familiar. It was a welcoming sight.

„Zangetsu.." Ichigo whispered between his shivers. He could not tell the cause for the violent shivers. His chuckle? Or did he cry? Or was the fever the cause? He did not know, but he did not give a damn about it at the moment. He got to his feet and walked over to the red crystal.

Without a word Himawari appeared in his hand.

„Any ideas on how to get him out of this shit?"

„_I would suggest analysing the crystal before wasting your energy, Ichi."_

Ichigo nodded and released Himawari's shikai form. Lifting the blue dragon eye to his own, he scanned the crystal. Again data flooded his mind.

_I hope he can explain how he got imprisoned like this once we free him._

„_Onii-sama...I don't think kidou or a simple slash can destroy the crystal."_

_Yeah... you're right, Sora. How much power can you give to me?_

„_You could try my bankai. I'm basically support but my vankai-attack is powerful, too. But you're weak at the moment. I can't promise a success."_

_I don't ask for a promise. Let's do it._

He concentrated on his reiatsu. Even he could tell that his reiatsu was not healthy at the moment. He felt the energy that was sent by his elementaries and Himawari.

„_Ichi? Are you ready?"_

„BANKAI!"

Energy swirled like fog around him. As it was gone Ichigo looked down. The force of his bankai had cracked the crystal but it was not destroyed yet. Himawari was now a reversed version of Zangetsu. While Zangetsu was black, Himawari was completely white.

„It seems like I have a fondness for unimpressive looking bankai forms..."

„_It's your enemies fault to underestimate you."_

As far he could see, only the blade had changed. Nothing else. What he did not see was that his hair color changed to white. But as he looked down to the scratches on his hands...

„Woah... Himawari? Are my scratches healing?"

„_That's my power. My bankai isn't visible but powerful. Zangetsu is mainly for fights. And my power is to protect you. Like a healing second skin. And now get the old man out of the crystal. I want to tease him."_

_You're weird…!_

He knew he only had energy for one slash left.

„Make or break!

A crude white beam shot forward. It clanged loudly. The crystal burst asunder. Zangetsu fell to the floor.

„_That was about time, Ichigo!"_

_Welcome back, old man. It's good to see you, too._

-- chapter 11 end --

6


	12. Return

**Title:** Destined Fate

**Chapter:** 12 of 17? – Return

**Author:** mysticarchangel  
**Beta: **xtrek

**Pairing:** Ichigo/Renji  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** plot bunnies out of control  
**Word**** Count**:  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo

-- Chapter 12 – Return --

„I can't believe it. I thought we would be sent to the gray dimension!" Ikkaku ranted, walking in circles. The team sat lazily on the ground, some rocks or were walking in circles like Ikkaku. The area was bright green and nothing dangerous could be sensed. None of the creatures here were bigger than a dog.

„Damn Urahara and his inventions!"

„Never trust a smiling Urahara," Matsumoto tried to joke.

„The connection is still down. We can only wait."

„Hitsugaya-taichou? What was Urahara's last transmission about, before the connection broke down?"

„Technical problems, we have to wait for an answer."

„We're stuck here? For how long?"

-.-.-

Rukia and Renji had distanced themselves from the others. The redhead lay on the grass, staring blankly at the sky. Rukia sat on a rock next t o him, staring worriedly at her childhood friend. For a few minutes they sat there in silence. Rukia stole a glance at the others. They were just out of earshot.

„Ano.. Renji, about last night..." She stopped as she felt his reiatsu tensing. She gulped and had to clear her throat before continuing.

„...you said you dreamt of that dimension..."

She didn't mention that he had dreamt of Ichigo, but he knew she was implying it. He didn't look at her, but he gave a hardly visible nod.

„How was he?"

He flinched as his memories came back. Renji closed his eyes, seeing Ichigo clearly in his mind. Tired. Hurt. Thin. Gray. Exhausted.

„Alive, but exhausted and thinner as usual." He whispered, not trusting his voice.

„When did it start?" Rukia used his willingness to talk.

His answer was hardly understandable and she nearly missed it.

„Since I woke up at Urahara's that day..."

„_You mean since you fainted..."_

_Zabimaru...shut up._

„Hmm.. every night?" She tried carefully.

Renji shook his head slowly.

„It stopped almost a week ago."

_Since the night I..._

„_Since the kiss, don't deny it! You closed the door."_

_Can I open it again?_

„_I don't know."_

„When I woke you up?" Rukia whispered. Renji nodded.

_Yeah, that has happened, too._

„What happened in your dream?"

THIS was the question he didn't want to hear. Renji flinched.

„You moaned. Were you in pain? Was he in danger?"

Renji couldn't decide what was worse, the surprise that Rukia believed him and accepted the dream as reality or her questions.

„Can't remember." He mumbled.

„_Liar!" Zabimaru chuckled._

„Why do you accept this that easily? I thought you would think I had gone crazy."

„Crazier than you already are?"

„Hahaha, seriously, why do you believe that my dreams could be real?"

Rukia sweatdropped.

„Well..."

„HEY!! Hurry up, you two! We can go back!" Matsumoto yelled and saved Rukia.

„You heard it, let's go!" She said and ran off.

„Damn..."

„_You're not the only one who can avoid questions."_

_She knows something._

„_I could tell."_

-.-.-

„Urahara-san..."

„Ah – Kuchiki-taichou, what a pleasure..."

Urahara examined his face. It was as expressionless as ever. The taichou crossed his arms and leant against the wall. Urahara walked over to him and lowered his voice.

„Rukia told you."

„And you eavesdropped."

Urahara grinned widely.

„Kurosaki Isshin?"

„He knows. Did you explain everything to Rukia?"

„I only said his dreams could be real."

„Care to..." Urahara interrupted himself to greet Hanatarou who had just arrived from Soul Society. Only minutes later Isshin joined them, too.

„Good afternoon, Isshin-san ... Where are Kon and your twins?"

„Yuzu and Karin are watching over Ichigo's body. He's got a fever and hasn't woken up since he went to bed last night. And Kon... he's right here." Isshin was obviously depressed. He held up Kon in his plushie form.

„I couldn't move... I couldn't wake up..." Kon whined in response.

Urahara and Kuchiki-taichou fell silent. Hanatarou gulped.

„With your permission, sirs, I would like to examine Kurosaki-kun and report his status to Unohana-taichou."

The small shinigami bowed deeply, before running off. He showed his worries about the substitute shinigami openly.

Ichigo's time was running out.

„They have to find him soon..."

-.-.-

-.-.-.-.-.- Ichigo's Inner World -.-.-.-.-.-

„So, any ideas how we could get out of here?"

Ichigo asked his elementaries and zanpakutou. He was glad to have Zangetsu back. Now he could think about a way to go home. He looked around. Windows were still cracked. The buildings were still crumbling.

„Why doesn't it heal?"

„Your inner world was attacked directly. Your Hollow was killed. You neither eat properly nor do you sleep enough. Every few hours there's an attack. AND you don't accept a certain connection. Do you REALLY need to ask?" Himawari stated and petted him softly. Ichigo sighed. He translated her outburst into „It will take a while".

„Any ideas how we could get out of here? It's time to go home. I'm long overdue."

Himawari was still cuddling him, his elementaries around them. Even Zangetsu had sat down. Ichigo eyed his zanpakutou. Zangetsu with his black hair and the black coat. Himawari in bright white and with blond hair.

„Wouldn't ying and yang fit you better," he mumbled, but continued louder „Is it possible to create a portal on my own? I mean, the Arrancar have always stepped through their own, why not me too?" Ichigo looked at them, waiting.

„I think, it might be possible. But you'll need a lot of energy and concentration, onii-sama." Sora said thoughtfully.

„When Sora says so, it's indeed possible, Ichigo."

„How? Do I just have to imagine a door that leads home?"

„It won't be that easy, onii-sama. You have to create a cut through time and space. You have to concentrate on the correct place, time and on the portal. If it isn't stable enough your body and soul might be ripped apart. But if you compare it to a door, you're on the best way."

„Any better ideas?"

The others stayed silent. They all knew Ichigo was actually too weak to test this theory by himself without proper introductions. But how else should he get home?

„Let me guess... I have only one try?"

His elementaries looked at each other and nodded. Zangetsu and Himawari agreed.

„Take all the time you need on concentrating and imagining your home. We can't say how much energy you'll need."

„Ok, let's try!"

-- Ichigo's inner world end --

The rescue team stepped through the portal.

„Welcome back, everyone.. Er...where's Kurosaki-kun?" Urahara greeted the returning shinigami.

„You shame of a scientist! You sent us to the wrong dimension!"

Now even Urahara lost his grin...

„That's not good."

„His body has fallen into some kind of coma."

„WHAAAATTT?!"

„Damn."

„Hurry up and change the settings! We have to get him."

„Hai hai"

Urahara rushed to the panel.

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPP

„Uh oh..."

„Uh oh? Urahara??"

Renji asked hesitantly.

„Search for cover!"

„Cover?"

Urahara shunpoed away from his beloved unknown-dimension-portal.

A loud explosion. Smoke. A pressure wave forced all of them to the ground.

„What. Was. That?"

„I'm afraid that was the udp."

„Place the emphasis on**was**!"

There were the udp had once stood, only a smoking mess was left.

„Don't say anything...",Isshin warned „I don't want to hear it."

„Hey guys, are you alright? What's up with the noise?"

Karin and Yuzu came around the house. Karin stared unbelievingly at the leftovers. Yuzu sank to her knees.

„Yuzu, Karin, shouldn't you be watching Ichigo's body?" Rukia tried to distract.

„Hanatarou-san relieved us from the watch. He said we should come over here and wait for Ichigo. What happened?"

-.-.-.-

„Meow!Meowmeow! Meow! Hiss!"

Cabu did not sound very happy.

„Cabu, I'm really thankful for everything. I'm very happy to have met you. But this is your home. I can't take you with me."

The answer was another snarl.

„_How can you understand it?"_

_Don't know, old man. I simply do it._

„_I stopped wondering a while ago. It's you we're talking about."_

_Says the one who __introduced herself as my second zanpakutou and has weirded me out ever since. Who was the clingy, ridiculously huge sword again?_

„Meeeeooooooooowwww!"

There it was. It started to beg, completely with puppy-eyes.

„Cabu..."

Ichigo felt his resolve weakening.

„Meow, meow, meow!"

„What? This isn't your home?"

„Meow!"

„But how did you get here?"

Cabu kept silent, looking sad. Its ears dropping low.

„You don't know... but I don't even know if I'll survive my first dimension portal. It's too dangerous for you!"

Cabu gave him a pointed look.

„Argh.. you're right. Here is not really safe either.."

Ichigo stared at his little companion...and sighed.

„I hope Dad doesn't mind having a pet."

The tiny chimera squeaked happily, nuzzling Ichigo. It dived under his hood, making itself comfortable in the orange strands.

„You really like my hair, don't you?"

Ichigo sighed again as its reply was another happy „meow".

„_Ichigo, you were here for too long."_

_Don't tell me._

„_You know, you just lost an argument with a ball of fur."_

_I don't need you to point it out, old man._

The substitute shinigami sat down. Cabu had brought a few fruits. He would need all energy he could get. He already felt dizzy, even without doing anything draining. But he could not eat.

Just looking at the fruits made his stomach turn. His last bite had been days ago. But that didn't make it easier. He forced himself to take a bite.

_Are you ready guys?_

He tossed away the leftovers and waited a few moments before he got to his feet. Feeling the energy floating from his companions, Ichigo closed his eyes.

He concentrated on his home town. Urahara's shop would be good. There he wouldn't scare anyone too badly. Plus he could get first aid. Plus he would not have to face his father in this condition.

Concentrating on time was another matter. Ichigo had lost his track of time long ago. Not even Zangetsu could tell him how long he had been in the gray-black dimension. He could only guess. He chose to use his current situation, the condition of his body and mind for orientation.

Last but not least he pictured the portal... a glowing cut in space. An oval portal, big enough to step through.

Ichigo felt his energy being drained. The whole „imagining"-shit as he called it himself was possible because of his elemental ghosts. They helped him to cut space for the portal somehow. He deeply hoped he would never have to explain this. He did not have a clue why it was working.

The teen opened his eyes.

A hole gaped in the air in front of him. It glowed in soft blue light. It was wavering unsteadily. It's elliptical form was not stable yet. As long it was still wavering he could not walk through. Ichigo concentrated on its form. He put more energy into it.

Finally it stopped wobbling. Ichigo wanted to sleep right there and then. He was even dizzier than before. And he had believed that was not possible... His knees threatened to buckle.

„_Ichi, are you alright?"_

„Yeah... let's go before I'm knocked out."

„_You have to concentrate on your home while going through the portal, onii-sama."_

Ichigo nodded faintly. He trusted Sora on this.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the blue glow.

-.-.-.-

„Meow?"

Ichigo did not react to Cabu's questioning meow. He looked around disappointedly. Sure, he was not in the gray-black dimension anymore. Neither he was back in Karakura. He slumped to the ground.

„I failed..."

His view blurred again. He was too exhausted to do anything. He simply stared at his new surroundings. He sat on burnt grass. The trees around him looked burnt, too. The sky was deep red. Clouds were bright yellow. He could not sense anything. He didn't have enough energy to scan the area.

„_Onii-sama, see the bright side. You are still in the right time..."_

_Very encouraging, Sora..._

„_How can you tell?" Riku asked._

„_I can feel the flow of time."_

„_Ah... alright..."_

„Meow!" Cabu chirped happily and flew off.

„Huh?"

Ichigo forced himself to his feet. After a few steps he saw Cabu playing with others of his kind. There were ten or more of them. They sang happily and nuzzled Cabu. A few of them were black, but there were also white and brown ones. Ichigo's eyes softened.

_Cabu's home... hey guys, is there enough energy left for a second portal?_

„_You want to leave immediately?"_

_Yeah...Cabu is back home. It belongs with his family and friends. It doesn't understand yet, but I can't take it with me. It's time for me to go home. Hell...I miss them so much._

„_That explains the rain..."_

Ichigo repeated his former actions. He reached out his arm with an open hand. The portal appeared in front of his palm. This time the bluish hole was stable within seconds.

He looked back at Cabu.

„Farewell, fluffy. Don't get yourself eaten."

Cabu stopped deadpanned, looking confusedly at his human friend.

Ichigo waved his hand, turning around.

„_Is it really ok, Ichi? You'll miss it."_

_Yeah... it belongs to this dimension, not at my side..._

He walked into his portal.

„Be happy, Cabu!" He whispered. The little chimera meowed furiously, but Ichigo disappeared.

-.-.-

„Is Ichi-nii going to die?"

Yuzu sobbed quietly into Karin's shoulder. Isshin hugged his twins without a word. Urahara knelt between the ruins of his invention, hoping to find a way to rebuild it quickly. Isane had left to assist Hanatarou a while ago. Rukia stared blankly at the ground. While the others informed the arriving human friends in hushed tones. And Renji...

He felt lost. He did not want to give up. But what could they do without the udp? Ichigo's reiatsu had to be weak. How could he survive any longer? That dimension offered nothing to rebuild energy and strength.

A bright flash of lightning startled everyone. A black hole gaped in the air. A black figure stepped out.

It wore a black, long coat. The dark hood covered its head completely and hid whatever lay beneath. There was only darkness, no face to see. Its movements were so small that it seemed to hover over the ground. The lack of any reiatsu alarmed the sulking shinigami.

„Fuck, a hell lord." Ikkaku swore.

All grabbed their weapons. Yuzu looked up and stared at the figure. It had appeared only a few meters in front of the remaining Kurosaki-Family.

„RUN!!"Rukia yelled.

They did not move. Not even Isshin moved to save his and his daughters' lives.

The hell lord walked slowly.

„MOVE! IT'LL KILL YOU!"

The hell lord raised its sleeves. Renji's eyes widened, remembering the reports. The death hug. Yuzu jumped at the same moment as Karin...

„NOOOOOO!!"

-- chapter 12 end --

A/N: There are currently 3 votes for both of the sequel options.

6


	13. Plans

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo

-- Chapter 13 – Plans --

„NOOO!!"

The twins jumped, flying right into the enemy's arms...

Everyone was stunned with shock.

It had caught them. The hell lord held both girls tightly in its arms. Nobody moved, except Isshin. He walked towards the scene. The hell lord set both girls back on the ground. It raised its sleeves again...

...and lifted its hood. Orange strands mixed with gray became visible. A head was hidden under black bandages. A sleeve pulled them down revealing a black colored face with white stripes.

„YO!" Ichigo greeted tiredly, „what's this meeting about?"

„_You were away for weeks and that's all you can come up with?"_

Isshin smirked.

„It was about time, Ichigo!"

He hugged his son, almost crushing his rips.

„IIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCHHHHHIIIIIIIGOOOOOOOOOO!!"

A yellow blur crashed into his chest.

„Uff..."

„Do you even know how long you were lost? Did you even eat or sleep? Do you have any idea about the consequences it had on your body? Do you...?" Kon sobbed into his coat, never stopping his complaints. One by one the bystanders got out of their stupor. They came closer. Everyone greeted the long lost boy in their own way. Rukia hit him on his head, calling hin an orange idiot. Inoue welcomed him back with tears in her eyes. Ishida and Byakuya simply nodded. Others patted him on shoulders or back.

Isshin just gave Ichigo another crushing hug.

„SQUEAK!!"

The sound stopped the good mood at once. A part of Ichigo's coat moved. A black ball shot out of his neck line.

„What??"

„Damn! Kill it!"

The shinigami grabbed their weapons.

„Cabu?" Ichigo blinked. The black ball stopped midair.

„Meow!"

„But shouldn't you stay in your own dimension?"

„Meow, meow, meow!"Cabu landed on Ichigo's head and ruffled the orange strands.

„Ow. Hey, Cabu, get out of my hair!"

„Ichigo?"

„Er... this is Cabu...can I keep it?"

Isshin stared at the mixture of cat and bunny. It uncurled its legs, tail and bunny ears. It folded its bat wings neatly on its back. Then he stared at his son.

„OH MY LITTLE SON IS SO RESPONSIBLE. HE WANTS TO TAKE CARE OF A SMALL BEING!" Isshin nearly crushed Ichigo's rips again. Cabu fluttered a bit in an attempt to stay on Ichigo's head.

„Why is he allowed to take it with him and I was not?" Rukia demanded to know.

„_Ichi? How long do you plan to stay awake?"_

_I hope not too long anymore..._

„Kurosaki-kun? Where did you get this clothes?" Urahara asked, while Ichigo was unwrapping his bandages.

„These here? Well, there was this strange creature. It looked like a living coat. It left nothing than bandages and this coat."

„You're telling me that you met a hell lord? And survived?"

„Hell lord? Oh, that fits. It wasn't a very pleasant meeting... The thing tried to rip my inner world apart..."

„..."

„_You're a master of understatement. Your inner world is still damaged."_

-.-.-

„Hey guys... This screams for a party!!" Ikkaku yelled.

They had settled down in Urahara's living room and had bombarded Ichigo with thousand questions. He had only been able to answer a few of them, because every answered question raised a good number of new ones.

But now the attention was on Ikkaku and the party idea.

„Sounds great!"

„Let's do it!"

„Who will get the sake and snacks?"

„Tonight? Isn't this a little too sudden? The whole team should celebrate."

„But we're away for a school project starting tomorrow. We won't be back until Friday in two weeks."

„Question!"Shuuhei interjected, grinning. „What would you do if you haven't slept much for days? Maybe you fought a lot and did not eat much. And now you're in a safe place for the first time in weeks?"

Ikkaku blinked.

„I would fall asleep where I was standing..." He pondered.

„Kurosaki chose a more comfortable postion."

They all shifted their gazes to Ichigo. He had fallen asleep sitting next to Renji. Shuuhei nudged him at his shoulders. Ichigo fell to the side like a dead body. His head landed in Renji's lap...

„Oi!!"

Ichigo showed no reaction.

„Hey! I'm not a damned cushion!" Beside his words Renji felt a little too comfortable with the strawberry in his lap. Unconsciously his reiatsu reached out to Ichigo and covered him like a blanket. Ichigo's incredibly low reiatsu calmed down and became steadier.

„Ichi-nii? Please wake up, you need to go home." Yuzu shook the boy carefully.

„I'll check his reflexes! HYYAAAAA!"

The next moment he jumped, attacking Ichigo's head. Yuzu stepped to the side. Renji's eyes widened in shock.

„NO!"

„STOP!"

„You can't..."

Ichigo's hand shot up, catching the attacking foot. Turning around, he send his father flying into the opposite wall.

Renji stared at Ichigo in his lap. He was now lying on his back, facing the redhead. Cabu meowed worriedly and landed on his chest. It had somehow managed to avoid Rukia all the time. Now it was looking at the sleeping and peaceful face. It meowed again, this time it sounded happier. The little chimera wandered over the torso to Ichigo's hand on the ground. With its teeth it tore at his sleeve, placing Ichigo's hand on his belly. Then it crawled under Ichigo's hand and dozed off.

„Awww... how cute." Inoue giggled.

„I'll translate Dad's goofiness: His reflexes are still working. He will recover."

„He's still asleep..." Renji muttered disbelievingly.

„He has just thrown Isshin through the room and is still sleeping?!"

„Usually he only rolls to the side, avoiding the attack if he's too tired. It's rare that he throws Dad and continues sleeping." Karin didn't seem too surprised and shrugged.

Renji looked down again, feeling very grateful that Ichigo didn't dodge his father's attack this time. He sighed and was about to push the teen out of his lap.

„ Good evening everyone. I heard Kurosaki-kun has returned." Unohana-taichou entered the living room. She walked right up to Ichigo.

„If you don't mind letting him stay where he is, Abarai-fukutaichou, I would like to examine him quickly."

She did not wait for any response. A few minutes later she looked up.

„He will stay asleep for a few days. He has to stay in bed for two weeks to recover. No stress. No strain. And he shouldn't hide or surpress his reiatsu, his state would only worsen."

„Ok... how do we get him home, without being thrown?"

„Renji-san could do it. Ichi-nii doesn't throw his cushion." Yuzu suggested innocently. Karin grinned at Renji. Ichigo was still in his lap.

„Great, demoted to a cushion!" Renji sulked.

„_Don't pretend! You like him in your arms..."_

_Shut up..._

„I would say promoted..." Karin muttered still grinning.

„But who will take care of him? Karin and I are away for the school project. Dad needs to attend a conference tomorrow. Plus we can't move him from here." Yuzu looked worried.

„Easy, someone has to stay with him, preferably someone who has already been here in the real world." Urahara explained.

„Maybe Rukia?"

„Rukia has to take part in the school project, plus she can't carry him, if it should become necessary."

„Abarai-fukutaichou will stay." Byakuya stated emotionless. He locked eyes with Isshin. He nodded.

„What?" Renji blinked.

„You know the real world." Rukia listed.

„Yes, but.."

„You are strong enough to carry him and to force him to stay in bed."

„Yeah, but..."

„And you are both male. There should not be any problems. Onii-sama is right. You should stay here!"

_But I can't cook..._

„To change the topic: I think Ichigo has decided for us. The party will be here on Saturday in two weeks." Isshin planned.

-.-

They ended their meeting. Renji looked down at the sleeping teen.

_Will I wake him if I pick him up?_

„_He was attacked by Isshin and is still sleeping. Do you really think there's any way to wake him at the moment?"_

_Good point..._

Renji sighed and lay Ichigo's head gently on the floor before he stood up. He stretched his legs.

„Please stay asleep..." the redhead muttered. It would be an embarrassing situation if he woke up, lying in Renji's arms. He sighed again and picked Ichigo up. He carried him bridal style.

„Renji, I'll take your gigai with me. Put Ichigo back in his body. Yuzu and Karin will let you in." Isshin said. His girls had already gone home, taking Cabu with them. Renji nodded and shunpoed away.

Urahara waited until he was alone with Isshin and Byakuya.

„How cute...Have you noticed their reiatsu?"

„What are you planning?"

„Aw, come on. Don't tell us you don't recognize the signs. By the way, Isshin...here's the book." Urahara handed him an old-looking and very thick book. It had a black leather cover.

„Well, what do we need to plan... Yuzu is preparing a few dishes and putting them into the freezer. So Renji only needs to warm them up. He will take care of Ichigo. Hopefully he'll stay asleep for a few days ... er... after that Renji will have to be very creative in keeping Ichigo in bed for two weeks..."

„I didn't mean that. I doubt either of them knows what their symptoms mean. And Kurosaki, are you really alright with it?"

„You're right... this phenomenon is too rare to be known to them..."

„That's why I need this." Isshin waved the book. „And be it to throw it against his head. You can't change it, so I will accept it. The sooner both of them accept their connection the better. The first signs already showed weeks ago. I really don't want to see the consequences if they don't accept it soon."

„You mean it could become worse?"

-.-.-

„Don't dare to feed Ichi-nii instant food. I prepared some light meals. You only need to warm them up. Keep him warm! Cool down his fever. Watch his temperature..."

„Yuzu? Have you packed your things?" Karin interrupted her sister. With a last warning look at Renji she left Ichigo's bedroom. Yuzu had greeted him as he had entered the house. He still held Ichigo still in his arms.

„Seriously, I know it's rare to see him so peaceful, but don't you think you should put him back in his body?" Karin pointed to the sleeping figure in his arms.

„...yeah you're right..." Renji stopped. Karin narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

„What?"

„Don't fail to take care of him! If we come home and Ichi-nii's state is worse..."

Renji blinked.

_Does everyone in this family have some kind of protector complex?_

„_Must be in their genes. Be careful, they are very protective towards their brother."_

He lay Ichigo gently on his body and watched his soul being absorbed into his body. Instantly Ichigo's face became less white and his breathing calmed down. It was not laboured anymore.

„Meow!" Cabu chirped and glided into the room. It yawned and lay down next to Ichigo's neck. It nuzzled the teen affectionately.

„Cabu is soo cute. It really likes Ichi-nii." Yuzu giggled behind Renji. „Renji-san? I'll give you a tour through our house, so that you can find anything you need. Dad is going to leave tonight and Karin and I have to leave tomorrow morning. Then you're alone with him."

Yuzu gave him the tour through the Kurosaki household. Bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and so on. She explained how to use several electric appliances in the kitchen and living room like the microwave and television. She showed him where to find food, spices and dishes. Also she showed him how to use the washing machine and where he would find bathing supplies and clothes to change. Finally she led him to the hospital part of the house and Isshin's office.

„If you need medicine, you can find it here. Dad said he would leave you a list of what you have to use for which symptoms that Ichi-nii could have in his state."

„I got it. Er...where should I sleep?"

„I think it would be the best if you sleep in Ichi-nii's room for now. That way you can keep an eye on him. I'll get you a futon."

Later he sat beside Ichigo's bed, watching the sleeping duo. The strawberry and the chimera.

They looked so cute together. The scene tugged at his heart.

„What happened to you, my sweet strawberry?" Renji murmed, absently stroking soft orange strands.

„_Did you just say „my sweet strawberry"?"_

Renji blushed furiously.

_Shut up..._

Renji faintly thought that he had said that phrase to Zabimaru a lot lately... and he had the feeling that it would not be the last time.

--chapter 13 end --

5


	14. Sleeping Strawberry

**Title:** Destined Fate

**Chapter:** 14 of 16? – Sleeping Strawberry

**Author:** mysticarchangel  
**Beta: **xtrek

**Pairing:** Ichigo/Renji  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** plot bunnies out of control  
**Word**** Count**: 5903  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo

* * *

--- Chapter 14 – Sleeping Strawberry -----

Cabu was the first to wake up that morning. Its friend was still sleeping and it knew that he would not wake up soon.

He had always protected it. He had healed its wounds. It had not been able to do anything. The few fruits that it had found had only been a drop in the bucket. But the teen - „Ichigo" he was called by the others – had always thanked it. He had even been thankful for the company.

It did not think that it deserved his friendship. He had taken it home without wanting anything in return. Cabu had panicked as it had seen its only friend disappearing. In that moment, back at its home with its friends and family, Cabu had known that Ichigo was its world. It had to find a way to make it up to him. Ichigo deserved happiness. And a happy Ichigo would make the little chimera even happier.

But Cabu didn't know how to make it up to him yet...

Ichigo had always understood it. He had known what it wanted to say. It would not let him down. Never!

At the moment Cabu could not do anything. Ichigo was sleeping. But it would protect his sleep.

It stretched its wings. Carefully it put its ear to Ichigo's chest, listening to the steady heartbeats. But his breathing was laboured.

Ichigo's head fell to the side, dropping the wet towel off his forehead.

What had his little sister said? The towel would help to bring down his fever? So it had to be back on his forehead.

Cabu picked up the towel. It had to fly to do so. It put the towel back on his forehead. Ichigo's face was flushed from the fever. His lips were parted in attempt to breathe easier.

Where was the redhead when you needed him? - What was his name again? Renji? - His presence and reiatsu had the ability to calm Ichigo. Cabu liked how it had spread over Ichigo. It had been a very comfortable blanket. Renji should do that again.

Cabu looked up and tried to decide if he should stay or search for Renji.

The towel fell again. It was warm by now. A warm towel did not help anymore...

„Meow!" Ichigo's new pet yelled for Renji.

„MEOW!"

Cabu did not dare to leave his beloved friend. It adjusted the towel again and affectionately licked his face.

-.-.-

Renji walked into the room; in his arms he held a tray with tea, medicine and a bowl of cold water. He stopped at the door, seeing the little chimera. It was licking Ichigo's face! His chest ached at the sight. But he forced himself to walk forward. He placed the bowl on the nightstand.

Immediately Cabu took the towel and dropped it into the bowl. Then it tried to get the soaked towel out. Renji stopped it and took the towel from the little pet. He wrung it before he placed it back on Ichigo's forehead. Yuzu had given him another lecture of how to properly care for a sick person, before the twins had left in the morning.

Renji sighed. Now he was alone with a sleeping Ichigo and a worried pet. He had to admit that he was worried, too. Ichigo's fever did not want to go down. His breathing did not sound very healthy and he was sweating a lot.

„_Sooner or later you will have to change his clothes and wash him."_

_Don't remind me..._

„_What are you going to do? He won't sleep forever."_

_I don't know Zabimaru... I don't know._

„_You love him."_

_I wouldn't say I'm in love...He's just a good friend._

„_Right, you always kiss a good friend. Why haven't I ever seen you kissing Rukia? And you don't blush when I mention her."_

_I'm NOT blushing! And I didn't kiss him, well, not for real._

„_Renji, you already admitted it. Why are you denying it again now? He's back! It's time to take the next step!"_

_But..._

„Meow!"

Renji looked up at Cabu. He could swear its gaze was teasing him. It touched Renji's hand with its ear. This time he really blushed.

How long had he been caressing Ichigo's face?

„_Even the little__ ball of fur can see through you." _

He heard Zabimaru laughing and he could swear Ichigo's new pet was laughing, too.

Renji took the already warm towel and threw it on Cabu. It squeaked... which made it sound even more like it was laughing.

He decided to ignore both, his zanpakutou and the chimera. Instead he tested if the tea had cooled down enough. Eventually he had listened to Yuzu and was now following her instructions. The tea was lukewarm by now. He mixed the medicine into the tea. Carefully he lifted Ichigo's head. He had to support him with his arm. Renji held the drink to Ichigo's lips. Renji watched Ichigo drinking with relief.

„_You notice what you are doing, don't you?"_

_Of course, I'm giving Ichigo his medicine._

„_Do you notice what your reiatsu is doing?" Zabimaru grinned._

Renji blinked... his reiatsu?

He checked...and blushed furiously...again...

„_This is quickly becoming a bad habit, Renji." Zabimaru was still smirking._

His reiatsu had tucked Ichigo in.

Renji cleared his throat and pulled his reiatsu back. But he could not prevent that a strand stayed connected. He lay Ichigo back down.

„_So...__do you want to continue to ignore me or are you planning to confess to Ichigo when he wakes up? You could always kiss the sleeping beauty. Maybe he'll wake up."_

_Shut up...I'm going to sit here and watch his sleep just as Yuzu wanted me to._

„_How boring...seriously, I know you, sitting down quietly and watching a sleeping person doesn't fit...ah! How could I forget! You'll never get tired of watching your beloved strawberry."_

_Shut up!_

„_Ok... what are you going to eat? You can't cook for shit."_

_Instant ramen for me, Yuzu's dishes for Ichigo. They'll kill me if I feed him instant food..._

It was late at night when Ichigo's fever finally broke. His breathing evened out. Cabu chirped happily. Renji grinned in relief. Now they could go to sleep without fear. Ichigo's sleep was more peaceful than before.

-.-.-

„Yeah, his fever has gone down..." Renji told Ichigo's father on the phone the next morning. He listened to Isshin's answer.

„He's still sleeping...no, peacefully....Yeah, I know where you put the meds.... Er....a sponge bath?" Renji gulped.

„Er... yeah.. sure, no problem.... yeah bye." Renji hung up.

„I can't do this..."

Sponge bath implied a naked Ichigo and that implied Renji stripping Ichigo. Renji felt blood dripping out of his nose.

„_Drag your mind back out of the gutter! You shouldn't think of a sick person like that, Renji. You can do __that when he's awake!"_

_Stop suggesting weird things!_

Renji snapped back. He pulled himself together. He went into the bathroom and gathered the bathing supplies. With an armful of supplies he walked into Ichigo's room.

„Meow?" Cabu chirped curiously. It watched Renji put down a bowl containing warm water and several other items.

„_You__'ll have to strip him..."_

_You're not helping, Zabimaru!_

Renji sighed and sat down next to the bed.

He took a deep breath.

_I'm not thinking of Ichigo's naked body... No, I'm not thinking about it at all. __I'm not..._

„_Are you actually trying to convince yourself? I can tell that it isn't really working."_

_I'm not attracted to Ichigo...I'm not thinking about him like this..._

„MEOW!"

„OUCH! Oi, fur ball, what do you want now?" Renji snarled at the little chimera. Then he examined his hand. Cabu had bitten him as he had reached out to remove Ichigo's pyjama top. Cabu hissed. It landed on Ichigo's chest. It glared at Renji.

„What?!? Beat it! I can't wash him if you bite me, you little ...."

Cabu was not impressed and stayed in its postion.

„Move it!"

„_Renji..."_

„Stupid ball of fur, MOVE!"

„_Renji..."_

_WHAT?_

„_Don't you think it only wants to protect our little substitute shinigami?"_

_Protect him? From me? But I have to take care of him!_

„_It's obviously very fond of Ichigo and now you want to strip him...I don't think your intentions are very clear. "_

_Oh great! Not only does he have a protective family, he has a protective pet now, too._

„_Try to convince it that you're only helping Ichigo."_

_Convince it... Zabimaru we're talking about an animal!_

„_My, thank you very much. I'm actually very similar to a chimera, you see."_

_No, you're my zanpakutou and this... this.. this is simply a pet._

_-.-.-_

Cabu really liked Renji's reiatsu blanket but what he was doing now was just too much. Ichigo was not awake. He was helpless, defenceless. How could the redhead dare to do this to the sleeping teen?

It was Cabu's time to protect its friend. It growled again. Renji's attempts to shoo it away did not make it any better. Cabu thought that the red-haired shinigami was touching Ichigo a little too often. This was becoming more and more dangerous. It snapped at the offending hand that was reaching for Ichigo again.

„Oi, fur ball. I don't want to hurt him..." Renji sighed. „Please stop biting me so I can take care of our friend."

Cabu hissed but it knew the redhead was right. Until now Renji had not hurt Ichigo. It looked at Ichigo's face. He still looked peaceful. In the past weeks the little chimera had learnt that Ichigo could sense danger in his sleep. His aura had changed every time before they had been attacked in their sleep. Maybe there really was no reason to bite Renji...

It hesitated. After a few moments of looking back and forth, it walked to Ichigo's face and nuzzled him. The tiny chimera licked his ears a last time and flew to the nightstand, making room for Renji.

-.-.-

„I'll take that as an ok, fur ball..." Renji carefully came closer. Cabu stayed where it was. The shinigami took a deep breath. He moved Ichigo's blankets aside and glanced at Cabu. It did not move. It only glared at the redhead. Slowly he undressed the sleeping teen. At the first sight of exposed skin and a hint of strong muscles he blushed hard. Soon his face was competing with his hair for the brighter red.

„_Have you reverted into some blushing virgin? Start washing Ichigo before his pet bites you again!"_

Renji sighed and reached for the sponge. Under Cabu's watchful eyes he washed Ichigo with gentle strokes. Renji admired Ichigo's soft skin. He had to admit that he enjoyed every second. Probably he would not get this close to his strawberry ever again.

After a few moments even Cabu relaxed. It stopped glaring but it continued to observe Renji. He was blushing. His eyes were shining with soft warmth. Every move was gentle. There was no danger. But there was something else...if it had known how it would have smirked. No, ... Renji would never hurt its friend. Well, not on purpose.

It threw a final glance at the two males and left the room quietly.

-.-.-

Renji finally dropped the washcloth into the bowl. He had managed to finish washing Ichigo without having another nose bleeding attack. He turned around to Cabu...

„Satisfied? That ok with you?"

or where Cabu had been earlier.

„Meow!"

Suddenly Cabu landed on Renji's shoulder. It dropped something into Renji's lap. Renji picked up a bottle.

„Lotion..." He read on the label. „Oi, fur ball. First you don't want me to touch Ichigo and now you want me to apply lotion?"

Cabu chirped affirmatively. Renji gulped.

„Hopefully Ichigo never finds out about all of this..."

He poured a generous amount of lotion into his hand to warm it up slightly. This time there was no cloth between his massaging hands and Ichigo's skin. He sighed and tried to block out any tempting thoughts.

He spread the lotion over Ichigo's skin. He tried hard to ignore the feeling that the soft skin under his fingers evoked. Ichigo's muscles had weakened over the last weeks and he could feel every rib.

Renji was relieved that he was back and safe. Ichigo shouldn't experience coldness and darkness anymore. He applied lotion on Ichigo's torso and gently spread the substance on every limb. Soon he was lost in his daydreams. He wanted to caress the tension away...

„_Renji, stop molesting a sleeping person!"_

_Eh, w__hat?_

Renji was forced back into reality. He looked down at his hands...Blood dripped out of his nose. So much for the victory over his perverted thoughts.

His hands had been wandering...dangerously down...his left hand had stopped mere centimeters from Ichigo's nether region while his other hand was playing with his nipples. Ichigo's face was slightly flushed and his breathing was not so calm anymore...

„ARGH.... What am I doing?"

„_I would say__ that you're molesting a defenseless Ichigo. Can't you do this when he's awake?"_

Renji sighed. Unsure of what to do with a flushed and still sleeping Ichigo, he grabbed a fresh pyjama and quickly redressed Ichigo. Then he tucked him in under the blankets.

Immediately Cabu was back at Ichigo's side.

-.-.-

He was floating in darkness. He couldn't see anything else. But the darkness was different from the black dimension. It was warm and comforting. He had never felt that save lately. Here he didn't have to worry. There was no need to be frightened. He couldn't see anyone but he felt he was not alone. Outside of the darkness someone was there and taking care of him. It felt good.

Every muscle seemed to relax. It was a strange feeling. It got warmer. No, it was really hot. His mind was blank, it felt too good. Warm and gentle hands were everywhere...

Then suddenly the sensation stopped.

It simply stopped. Leaving him longing for more. He was aroused and somehow... frustrated. His mind was confused. He could not understand what had happened. What a weird dream....

-.-.-

It was the fourth day of Renji's job as a nurse. Ichigo was still sleeping. Renji spent his time watching TV or entertaining himself with his new favourite hobby: Ichigo-watching. He was worried that Ichigo had not woken up yet. The substitute shinigami had to eat but he could not feed a sleeping person. Hanatarou had checked him the day before and had said he would wake up soon.

But soon was such a vague word.

Plus he was running low on instant food.

_I'll need __about 15 minutes to the supermarket and back... Can I leave him alone? He's sleeping peacefully. He wouldn't notice that he's alone and his pet will stay here... I could set up a barrier for his protection..._

„_And risk__ setting everything on fire? Don't be ridiculous. I don't think Ichigo would appreciate you burning down his room."_

Renji sighed.

„Oi, fur ball! Watch him until I get back. I'll buy you a snack, too."

Cabu meowed and lay down on Ichigo's bed. Renji fetched the house keys, his wallet and left.

-.-.-

Cabu watched the redhead leave. He would be back soon so there was no need to worry. Plus, it would get a snack. The little chimera remembered Ichigo's father talking to the weird guy with the strange hat and haori. They had been talking about a soul bond. Did Renji and Ichigo belong together? Then it was not allowed to be selfish. The consequences of an unacknowledged or denied bond sounded fatal. Ichigo would suffer even more. Cabu could not accept any more torture for Ichigo. Now it knew what it could do for Ichigo. It needed to push Renji into the right direction. But wouldn't Ichigo forget it over his bond?

It had thought about that quite often in the past days.

But Ichigo wouldn't be Ichigo if he forgot his friend. Cabu could only hope to gain a new friend in Renji through the bond between them.

It nuzzled Ichigo's face. Renji and Ichigo belonged to each other. It could see that. The way Renji cared for the sleeping teen made it obvious. Not to speak of Renji's actions when he was lost in thoughts...

Stop! Something was wrong.

Ichigo did not breathe deeply anymore. His still weak reiatsu was pulled together and he started to suppress it unconsciously. That was not good. The important-looking lady with the braids had said it could worsen his condition.

Cabu squeaked helplessly. It was like back in the dark dimension.

It licked Ichigo's face, trying to calm down the substitute shinigami.

„Meow!"

-.-.-

Renji was packed with shopping bags. He had not only bought his instant food and snacks for the chimera but also fresh fruits. Ichigo would need the vitamins. He took the keys and unlocked the door. After entering the house he closed the door behind him.

Something was odd.

Something was missing.

„Meow!" He heard Cabu's pitiful squeak from upstairs.

„Fur b...?" Renji started but didn't finish the question.

His eyes widened. Ichigo's reiatsu was gone! He could not feel him.

„Shit!"

Renji dropped the bags. He rushed upstairs and stormed into Ichigo's room.

Ichigo was still in his bed. His breathing was laboured. His face was flushed. But the reason was different from the last time. He was suppressing his reiatsu.

„Shit... Oi, Ichigo! Don't do that."

Renji was immediately at his side and shook him slightly. The only reaction was Ichigo's head rolling to the left.

„Please, Ichi. Stop suppressing your reiatsu. It's not good for you."

„_I __don't think he can hear you!"_

His reiatsu stayed tightly reined in.

„Shit... What to do... what to do?"

Renji jumped to his feet and paced nervously up and down.

„_Geez calm down. You __can't help him by running around like a headless chicken. Remember Yuzu's lecture."_

_Yuzu's lecture? ... The LIST!_

Renji rushed out of the room. He bolted down the stairs and reached Isshin's office in record time.

„The list... the list... where the heck is the list?"

Finally he located the list on Isshin's desk.

„Let's see... in case of fever.... use this..." He walked around with the list and took the suggested medicine out of the prepared basket.

„Coughing... no, Ichigo doesn't cough. Why didn't Kurosaki write down what to do in case of Ichigo suppressing his reiatsu?"

-.-.-

Cabu followed Renji after he had left the room. Why didn't he do something? It could not calm Ichigo on its own. Their bond was not strong enough, although they were already bonded by a strong friendship. Only family ties would be stronger and...

That was it! The soul bond between Renji and Ichigo. What if Renji didn't really know about it? That Ichigo didn't know about the bond was no surprise, he had had enough to do and think about.

What did Isshin say to the guy with the hat and clogs? If necessary he would hit Renji with the book. The book... that was the solution. Cabu had to hit the redhead with it. Then he would know that Ichigo was his soul mate and use their bond to calm Ichigo. That was a perfect plan!

But where was the book? It looked old and was leather bound. Finding it was not an easy task in a room filled with books. An old looking one...

Cabu found it while Renji was still searching for medicine.

„Why didn't Kurosaki write down what to do in case of Ichigo suppressing his reiatsu?"

Cabu rolled its eyes. It picked up the book – it was really heavy – and hovered over Renji's head. It tried to aim and...

-.-.-

„Ouch! Oi, what's up?" Renji rubbed the back of his head. He looked down at the object that had hit him. A book lay on the floor. It had opened at a bookmarked page. But it was not the bright red marker that attracted his attention. The title of the article was even more interesting.

„Soul mates"

Renji picked up the book and read the pages about the soul bond. After only a few paragraphs his head was already spinning. He blushed as he reached the part on symptoms like connected dreams and visits to the inner world of the partner. His face went white when he reached the paragraph about the consequences of a denied bond...

_Zabimaru? Don't tell me..._

„_That you probably share a soul bond? It's very likely. Although I really like that you are finally thinking about your relationship with Ichigo, but wasn't there something more important right now?"_

„Argh, Ichigo!!!!"

So much for being calm. He panicked again.

„Meow?" Cabu stepped on the paper with Isshin's instructions that Renji had lost earlier. Confusion was written all over Renji's face. Cabu tapped the last point on the list.

„Call Urahara if anything else happens..." Renji read.

Renji wanted to hit himself. He should have come to that conclusion by himself... He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Urahara's number.

„Yeah?"

„Urahara? SOS!IchigoissuppressinghisreiatsuwhatcanIdo?"

„Freeloader-san? Calm down, I can't understand you."

„Ichigo is suppressing his reiatsu. I need..."

„When did he learn how to do that?"

„That doesn't matter right now! Tell me what to do! It's already affecting his health!"

„Try shaking him."

„That doesn't work!"

„Then speak with him, cover him with your reiatsu, pet him, cuddle with him or wake him up."

„Wake him...Urahara, his family will get my head if they ever hear about this. Plus, it looks like Ichigo would sleep through the apocalypse. How am I supposed to wake him?"

„My, my, can't you think of anything? Well, I'll give you a tiny hint. There's a fairy tale called _Sleeping Beauty_ I think you might know it."

„_Sleeping Beauty_? You better don't suggest..."

„Bye bye!"

„Urahara? Damn, the idiot hung up on me."

Renji repocketed the phone and climbed up the stairs. He entered Ichigo's room and sat down beside Ichigo's bed.

„Fur ball, whatever I do, don't bite me, ok? Your tiny teeth hurt a lot." Cabu chirped worriedly in response. The shinigami sighed and checked their friend.

Ichigo's fever had returned. His breath was flat and irregular.

„Hey, Ichigo. There's no need to suppress your reiatsu. Calm down already."

Renji felt silly talking to a sleeping person.

„_I don't want to interrupt__, but it doesn't work. You'll have to try something else."_

Renji sighed. That had been the easiest possibility. But why had he even bothered to try it? Ichigo had never been that simple. He needed to do something quickly. He went through Urarahra's other suggestions. There was not enough time to try everything. Renji changed his position and took Ichigo in his arms, covering him with his reiatsu. He ran his hand through the orange spikes and whispered soothing nothings into Ichigo's ear.

Ichigo stirred but did not wake up. He snuggled deeper into the embrace. Renji blushed. His eyes were soft as he looked down at the orange strands of Ichigo's hair.

„_Looks like you were spared __from having to kiss him. His reiatsu slowly returning to normal."_

_Yeah..._

„_Renji you still want..." Zabimaru sighed. „Just do it already. But only a tiny peck. Keep the rest for later. Ichigo won't appreciate missing out on the best." _

Renji could hear Zabimaru laughing. But his zanpakutou was right, Ichigo's reiatsu became more relaxed. He could feel him again. He tightened the embrace. Renji didn't want to ever let him go again. He gave Ichigo a peck on the temple and listened his breathing evening out.

-.-.-

What a beautiful sight. Cabu chirped happily. Ichigo's reiatsu was back and not suppressed anymore. And it had to admit that they looked good together. It hovered over to them and nuzzled both, first Ichigo then Renji who absently petted it in return. It wondered if Renji would have the guts to tell Ichigo about his feelings when he woke up. Or would the cat-and-mouse game restart?

Cabu left them alone and flew out of the room.

Renji had said he would buy it a snack. The shopping had to be somewhere. It flew downstairs. It didn't have to search for long. The shopping bags and their contents were still spread out on the floor by the front door. That was not good...it wanted Renji to get some quality time with Ichigo whose reiatsu was still weak. But it could not move everything where it belonged and some of the food needed to be put into the fridge.

The little chimera started to pick up the smallest items and brought them into the kitchen. The box of strawberries disappeared berry by berry from the floor.

Then it tried to lift a larger box but could not move it a bit. It panted and changed its grip. It flapped its wings frantically. Suddenly the weight became less. Confused it turned around. It was greeted by a smirking Renji.

„Thanks, fur ball! I'll take it from here." He looked into the last bag and pulled out a bar of chocolate.

„Here, your snack!"

Cabu caught it. It meowed happily. While munching its chocolate it watched Renji cleaning up.

Renji left some instant ramen on the table and went to prepare it. He took a cup out of the cupboard and boiled water for his ramen and the tea for Ichigo. He took another small bowl and filled it with water for Cabu.

It followed Renji back upstairs after he had finished his dinner. Cabu immediately moved towards Ichigo. It perked its ears and tilted its head. Ichigo's face was not flushed anymore. The little chimera walked over the blanket and made room for Renji. The redhead sat down on the edge of the bed. He placed the cup of tea on the nightstand.

Cabu chirped quietly. The look in Renji's eyes was so soft and utterly smitten. Wherever Renji's thoughts were right now - he was definitively lost. Cabu watched closely. Renji leant down, caressing Ichigo's face. He traced every line of his face. That was frustrating to see. It knew it had to share its Ichigo with Renji. It had accepted the fact that there was a deep bound between those two. Ichigo would not forget it over a relationship. But did the redhead want to kiss Ichigo or did he not?

Should Cabu interrupt and stop him from doing so or should it push Renji into action? For a sleeping person Ichigo sure managed to create a lot of chaos.

-.-.-

Cabu was not the only one who thought that at the moment. Renji was relieved that Ichigo's reiatsu had returned out of its shell. But what if it happened again? What had been the trigger for the suppression? Renji was worried. Maybe he should wake the sleeping boy to prevent a repeat. Unohana-taichou had said Ichigo's condition could worsen if he hid or suppressed his reiatsu. On the other hand Ichigo needed to sleep more to regain his strength.

_Ichi won't wake up soon...right? That __must have been a setback for his health..._

"_Do you want to wake him up?"_

_Na... I don't think so... I wish he would wake up...but he needs to sleep more than before..._

Renji traced Ichigo's face with slow motions. The feeling of Ichigo's skin under his fingertips was awesome. He stopped his caresses at the sight of Ichigo's nearly permanent frown and rubbed gently. The redhead was mesmerised when Ichigo's expression softened. The frown didn't disappear completely. Renji's reaitsu swirled around them, supporting his gentle strokes.

Renji listened to Ichigo's even breathes and felt his reiatsu under his own. It was relaxed and steady. The sleeping boy was still weak - his reiatsu gave it away - but it also contained the promise that he would recover. Renji hoped that the whole incident didn't leave permanent damage. Tentative reiatsu tendrils intertwined with Ichigo's weak ones. He had never felt so good before. Somehow complete. The tired reiatsu tendrils of his strawberry sent small shivers down his spine.

Renji stopped caressing the furrow between Ichigo's eyebrows and continued his exploration. His finger wandered around Ichigo's eyes, taking in every detail of his face. Ichigo's lids twitched slightly as a crimson strand of hair brushed over them. It had escaped Renji's hair-band and was now tickling the teen. Renji tucked it behind his ear before stroking over Ichigo's cheekbones. He could feel Ichigo's long eyelashes at his fingertips.

The redhead had never realized before how long they really were. They had usually wasted their time with sparring or arguing. Why had he not seen it before? Those beautiful lashes underlined Ichigo's expressive eyes. It was a pity that the brown eyes were closed at the moment. But what would have greeted him if they were open? Would they shoot him a dark glare or would they be soft?

Renji's finger moved on. He followed an imaginary path from Ichigo's temples over his cheek to his chin. Renji stopped there and repeated the same motion on the other side. His trail ended at Ichigo's chin. Meanwhile his eyes were glued to those delicate lips. Renji let his fingers hover over Ichigo's lips, feeling the even breath against them.

Slowly he lowered one finger. Renji was a little surprised. Ichigo's lips were not as soft as they had been in the dream. But that could easily explained by the hardships he had had to endure in the other dimension. As soft as his skin was - his lips were dry and slightly rough.

Renji unconsciously leaned closer. He was still caressing Ichigo's lips. Warm breath ghosted over his hand. It was even and deep. The parted lips seemed to beg for a kiss.

_---_

_Zabimaru had a hard time to keep silent. If he said anything now Renji would withdraw from his actions and probably pretend that he had never done anything weird. And why did he have the urge to sing _"Kiss the boy"?

"_Well... maybe I can..." Zabimaru grinned __mischievously. He only needed to manipulate Renji's reiatsu a tiny bit... _

---

Renji leaned even closer. Their faces were only inches apart. Renji's breath ghosted over Ichigo's face and mingled with the steady breathing of the sleeping strawberry. Renji's free hand found its way into the orange spikes while he was leaning on his elbow.

The reiatsu around them became thicker and heavier. Their combined reiatsu felt fantastic. Slow tendrils were pulling Renji down.

_A tiny peck...it wouldn't wake him... would it?_

Renji closed the distance between the two of them and replaced his finger with his lips. The kiss was nothing more than a soft peck. But nothing else could make him feel this kind of bliss.

Renji vaguely remembered their kiss from before his dreams about Ichigo had ended. With a sigh he drew back. Again his strawberry had not kissed him back. This time because he was still asleep.

Renji heaved another sigh and caressed Ichigo's face. His kiss had not woken Ichigo. Renji leaned closer. He wanted to feel complete again. The redhead was about to steal another tiny kiss...

When Ichigo stirred. His eyes fluttered open, looking straight into Renji's that where hovering just a few inches above him.

Ichigo blinked.

_Shit..._

-.-.- chapter 14 end -.-.-.-

* * *

A note from the beta reader: Sorry for this chapter getting stuck in the beta process. That its this late is entirely my fault. If you want to read some more Destined Fate maybe you want to have a look at the alternative ending that I wrote for this chapter. You can find it here: .com/cabu_ (just change hxxp into http) and via my profile. Hope to see you around soon for more Destined Fate! – xtrek

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